Happy Thanksgiving from CU Soapbox

All of us here on the CUSoapbox wish you a happy thanksgiving. Have fun, watch football, eat turkey. We'll be back with you on Monday of next week. 

BREAKING NEWS! Shea Stadium To Be Renamed FDIC Stadium

by Ron Daly 

...Just kidding. The LAST thing I need is a bunch of Mets fans coming after me.

But you know the story by now. Big bank needs money, big bank gets money, people start evaluating where the money the big bank had was spent before a bailout was needed. Hence, this story about Shea Stadium becoming Citibank Stadium. 

See, it's not that Citigroup took a bushel full of taxpayer money and ran to Shea Stadium to buy up the name as some news channels made it seem today. These deals take years and years to start up and pay off.  The 20-year deal, announced two years ago, was reported to be a record $400 million and entailed naming the new stadium Citi Field after it opened in 2009 in the New York borough of Queens, adjacent to the team's old home, Shea Stadium. 

Citi has just been cursed with the worst possible timing. And now's just about the worst time for everything. Except buying things, which people aren't doing because it's the worst time for everything else.  

Have Plane, Will Travel

by Ron Daly

You'll have to excuse me today, I'm a little cranky. Didn't get much sleep last night after another bad day in the financial markets, TARP and HARP (catch the breaking news story) all over the news and stories of credit unions being merged out of existence (click here to read more). The icing on the cake was the carpool ride home with my wife talking about the declines in our 401k plans over the past six months. She pointed out that at this rate we'll be working till we are 100 or at least till we drop dead in our seats in the office. In my feeble attempt at humor, I pointed out how the new administration promised to take care of everyone so we'd be just fine.

So now it's getting late and I'm listening to the Tonight Show for maybe a few laughs in the monologue before hitting the sack. Suddenly, Jay Leno jokes about the auto industry CEOs taking their private planes (yes, with an "s" to the tune of about $20,000 EACH), to a meeting in Washington to talk about getting $25 Billion for bailing out the auto industry. (Read about it here) The punch line? "Couldn't they carpool or just go first class and save some money?" The audience chuckles uncomfortably to be somewhat polite and Leno moves on. This morning, the Fox News team is yuking it up about the story as well.

The CUSoapbox Special Report: Townhall Meeting Page on TARP Now Open

Is there anywhere we can tell CUNA, NAFCU or NCUA that we in the trenches think it's a bad idea and would like see if we can find a solution on our own? --Matt Vance, in response to yesterday's post on TARP

Wish granted, Matt. 

Today is your day. The TARP money is up for grabs as the Treasury tries to make up its mind and the CU industry is trying to get their share. Some think that for a credit union to receive TARP assistance would undermine the values and goals of a credit union and make them no different from the banks that started this crisis in the first place. 

Put your thoughts about CU access to TARP on this page, which we've created to let you, the CU professionals that will be affected by this decision, speak your mind and tell the folks in Washington what matters. 

Go to the Townhall Meeting Page by Clicking This Link.

Welcome to CUSoapbox Bank- We're getting in line for bailout money!

by Ron Daly 

You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. CUSoapbox - which stands, of course, for "Credit Union Soapbox - has become its own BANK. 

Banks, we've decided, are great. We've decided this because we know that four insurers are buying up banks to get access to bailout funds. Yes, it's just that easy to get hold of a slice of the $700 Billion pie. What's even more impressive is that a cluster of funds this large comes with loopholes. 

Don't get us wrong - we love Credit Unions. Love 'em. But as it stands, CUs just aren't getting that same level of love from the Magnanimous Mr. Paulson at the Treasury. See, the NAFCU and CUNA are trying to get ahold of just a little corner of that TARP - something like $50 Billion of the $225 Billion left allotted for this year.

But $50 billion is $50 billion and, even stacked against a number fourteen times its size, that's a lot of money. Money that the treasury is already spending on the 34 largest banking institutions in the country. 

If You're Not Mad, You Aren't Paying Attention!

by Ron Daly

Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons. 

- Woody Allen

Well, Woody said it best and pretty much says it all - nobody wants to be broke. 

But good luck nowadays, considering the events of the past 24 hours. 

- That little crack I made in Wednesday's post about American Express becoming a bank and asking for a shake from the good people at the Treasury? Done. Already in the making. They're about to get spoon-fed bailout money to the tune of $3 Billion. 

- AIG continues to impress by paying millions to staff members to keep them from fleeing the company. Seems to me that if the company's in sour shape it might have SOMETHING to do with a leadership that requires MORE money to KEEP DOING A CRUMMY JOB!

We've hit that point, people - you should be angry. Angry with the decision NOT to buy mortgages and assets...which is what we were told was being done with our money (click here to read about what Michael Fryzel, NCUA Chairman, asked of the Treasury). Angry that companies like AIG and Freddie Mac are STILL begging for money and posting huge losses that are affecting the economy. 

Bait & Switch, or Was it Just a Shotgun Wedding?

by Ron Daly

Well there was more bad news today in the mortgage area and the stock market took another dive ending down 411 points on 11/12. My 401K just took another dive on the news. The latest turmoil?Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday that Treasury has instead shifted its focus to assisting non-bank financial institutions and will not buy mortgage assets after all. Well as the Church Lady on SNL always said "Isn't that special?"

The CUJ reported in the article "Bait And Switch: Treasury Abandons Plans To Buy Troubled Mortgage Assets" that the purchase of the mortgage assets was the linchpin of the controversial plan, which was initially rejected by Congress, but only passed after billions of dollars in tax breaks were added. The CU Journal goes on to point out that even while few credit unions planned to participate, there was widespread hope the Treasury's intervention in the market would raise values for troubled mortgage securities.

Taking questions from reporters afterwards, the Treasury secretary explained that "the facts changed and the situation worsened." Instead of focusing on troubled mortgage assets, Treasury will now shift to addressing a complex area of lending that has been vital for U.S. economic vitality.  

Are Credit Union Conferences Becoming Ghost Towns?

I was looking at my calendar for the upcoming year/the end of this year and I came across my invitation to the BAI conference in Orlando (click here for more information). And another. And one more. Basically, I got a whole inbox worth of invitations to said conference. It's flattering. But I'm not going. Apparently, I'm not the only one. I did a quick count of vendors from this year versus last year, and there's a difference of 83 this year. The recent Harland Connections conference in Orlando and Symitar Users Group Meeting in San Diego this summer had attendance figures down by about one-third compared to 2007 as well. 

I don't think it's irrational to blame this on the financial downturn we've been facing. When unemployment springs up and the net income of Credit Unions (at least in the Washington area) is down 56%, it's not surprising that CUs (and banks, let's face it) are looking to cut costs. It's also not surprising that travel is a juicy bit of tenderloin to trim in times like these, as there are more practical costs to continue incurring.

Before you jump out of your chair yelling at me, this is NOT me speaking out against conventions. This is me being practical and incapable of ignoring these in-the-red figures. BAI is an amazing conference. I've always enjoyed going and the thought of not going this year is kind of disappointing to me (Colin Powell? Tucker Carlson? Anne M. Mulcahy of Xerox? John A. Allison of BB&T? That's one heck of a speaker line-up). I also like the "Grow Show", which is strictly focused on CUs and has a killer line-up of its own (click here). But "return on investment" and bottom-line is important, too, and I'm trying to think ahead here. 

So, with a plethora of conferences to chose from here are the questions: What do you consider the "must go to" conference that, come hell or high water, you'll find a way to get there?

"Oh, God! Part III" - The financial crisis takes its toll on the church.

by Ron Daly

Shocked myself a bit when I read this story on CUJournal.com: 

Evangelical Christian CU Forecloses On Another Church

The irony of a CU that caters to Evangelical Christian churches foreclosing on a church is one thing, but the word that REALLY struck me in the title was "another". Another? There was one before? Yes, there was, and the loans unpaid and the money due was significant enough to warrant foreclosure ($12 million? That's a hefty sum). 

I'm not here to argue that it's wrong to foreclose on a church...OR that it's right to do so. I figured I'd let you decide. I can see it from both sides, the desire to help a community organization and the desire to run a stable business. But where do you stand? 

The comments section is yours, my friends. Hope you've enjoyed your Monday.

Some links related: 

Pastor promises to fight foreclosure

Without Walls Church faces foreclosure of two properties

Get your tuxedo ready, The Frankies are on their way!

by Ron Daly

I took it upon myself to not mince words, since that's not the point of this here blog. Instead, I wanted to show you EXACTLY what Frank said in his recent article "Attention Story-Tellers (And You Should Be One!) Time to Enter" [Click here to read]. 

And I quote:

Let's get right to it: if you can't tell your credit union's story this year, you have no business telling it. And if you have no business telling it, you have no business.

That said, hear ye, hear ye, this is your Official Call For Entries for the 4th Annual Frankie Awards, which recognize credit unions that most effectively convey what a credit union is and is all about, and why it should matter to members and non-members alike.

- Frank J. Diekmann, Credit Union Journal

That's right, the "Frankies" are on and the CU Soapbox is going to be watching closely. We have some ideas of who should be taking home a Frankie all their own (NOTE: We don't control who actually gets a Frankie, we just know who's very good at promoting their CU in an effective way and who isn't). But what we really want to know is who YOU think is telling their story the right way. You can nominate your own credit union if you wish, or point out someone who's really hitting a home run at the moment.