$26.2 Billion Problems

From the FDIC:

Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reported a net loss of $26.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, a decline of $27.8 billion from the $575 million that the industry earned in the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first quarterly loss since 1990.

Some highlights from the Drunken Lenders file:

* Insured institutions charged off $37.9 billion of troubled loans, more than twice the $16.3 billion that was charged-off in the fourth quarter of 2007;

* The annualized net charge-off rate of 1.91 percent equaled the previous quarterly high set in the fourth quarter of 1989;

* The amount of loans and leases that were noncurrent (90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status) increased by $44.1 billion (23.7 percent) during the fourth quarter; and

* At the end of 2008, a total of 2.93 percent of all loans and leases were noncurrent, the highest level for the industry since the end of 1992.

The verdict: U.G.L.Y.