A Run on the Bank

Harbinger of things to come? One hopes not, but here's today's Los Angeles Times/KTLA-TV news report from outside a southern California branch of the IndyMac bank, now "poised to become the third-largest bank failure in American history."

"Analysts are calm," the south Florida Herald-Tribune tells us. That may be because they have the list of who's next:

Seven Florida banks -- including First Priority Bank and Freedom Bank, both of Bradenton -- received Bauer's rock-bottom rating of "zero" in the firm's first-quarter review.

Florida bank analyst Richard Bove on Monday listed some large banks -- those with at least $5 billion in assets -- that could be considered candidates for the next failure.

Seven banks topped the 5 percent "danger" ratio of non-performing assets to outstanding loans. Among them is BankUnited Financial Corp. of Coral Gables, which has offices in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties.

What to do, what to do? MSNBC and Mother Jones agree: stuff your money in a mattress.