Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes

Tag: no-latest

  • Regional banks’ bad loans spark concerns on Wall Street

    Regional banks’ bad loans spark concerns on Wall Street

    NEW YORK — Wall Street is concerned about the health of the nation’s regional banks, after a few of them wrote off bad loans to commercial customers in the last two weeks and caused investors to wonder if there might be more bad news to come.

    Zions Bank, Western Alliance Bank, and the investment bank Jefferies surprised investors by disclosing various bad investments on their books, sending their stocks falling sharply this week. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon added to the unease when he warned there might be more problems to come for banks with potentially bad loans.

    “When you see one cockroach, there are probably more,” Dimon told investors and reporters on Tuesday, when JPMorgan reported its results.

    The KBW Bank Index, a basket of banks tracked by investors, is down 7% this month.

    There were other signs of distress. Data from the Federal Reserve shows that banks tapped the central bank’s overnight “repo” facilities for the second night in a row, an action banks have not needed to take since the COVID-19 pandemic. This facility allows banks to convert highly liquid securities like mortgage bonds and treasuries into cash to help fund their short-term cash shortfalls.

    Zions Bancorp shares sank Thursday after the bank wrote off $50 million in commercial and industrial loans, while Western Alliance fell after the bank alleged it had been defrauded by an entity known as Cantor Group V LLC. This came on top of news from Jefferies, which told investors it was might experience millions of dollars in losses from its business with bankrupt auto parts company First Brands.

    All three stocks recovered a bit Friday. Jefferies’ CEO told investors that the company believes it was defrauded by First Brands and that there were no broader concerns in the lending market.

    The last banking flare-up, in 2023, also involved midsize and regional banks that were overly exposed to low-interest loans and commercial real estate. The crisis caused Silicon Valley Bank to fail, followed by Signature Bank, and led to the eventual sale of First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase in a fire sale. Other banks like Zions and Western Alliance ended up seeing their stocks plummet during that time period.

    While banks do fail or get bought at fire sale prices, all bank deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, up to $250,000 per account, in case of a bank failure. In the nearly 100 years since the FDIC was created in 1933, not one depositor has lost their insured funds.

    Still, even the larger banks aren’t immune in this latest round of trouble. Several Wall Street banks disclosed losses this week in the bankruptcy of Tricolor, a subprime auto dealership company that collapsed last month. Fifth Third Bank, a larger regional bank, recorded a $178 million loss from Tricolor’s bankruptcy.

    That said, the big banks believe that any losses will be manageable and do not reflect the broader economy.

    “There is no deterioration, we’re very confident with our credit portfolio,” Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said, in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Friday.

    While the big Wall Street banks get most of the media and investor attention, regional banks are a major part of the economy, lending to small- to medium-sized businesses and acting as major lenders for commercial real estate developers. There are more than 120 banks with between $10 billion and $200 billion in assets, according to the FDIC.

    While big, these banks can run into trouble because their businesses are not as diverse as the Wall Street money center banks. They’re often more exposed to real estate and industrial loans, and don’t have significant businesses in credit cards and payment processing that can be revenue generators when lending goes south.

  • Letters to the Editor | Oct. 20, 2025

    Letters to the Editor | Oct. 20, 2025

    The death of Ellen Greenberg

    Try as I may, I can’t wrap my head around Chief Medical Examiner Lindsay Simon’s recent ruling that 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg’s stabbing death was by suicide.

    You most likely are familiar with the details of the case: In January 2011, Greenberg was found on the kitchen floor of the Manayunk apartment she shared with her fiancé, Sam Goldberg, a politically connected producer at NBC Sports. Greenberg had been stabbed 20 times, and she was discovered by Goldberg, who was never considered a suspect or charged with any crime.

    Simon, in her recent review, which was prompted by two lawsuits Greenberg’s parents filed against the city, discovered 20 additional bruises and three additional “perforations of her skin” never before documented, raising the number of bruises to 31 and stab wounds — including one in the back of her neck — to 23. Well, I’m not a medical examiner, a criminal investigator, a police officer, an assistant DA, or an attorney. But I have so many questions.

    Although Simon states that all of the wounds and bruises could have been self-inflicted, it seems to me that only a skilled contortionist could accomplish what was described. Did Simon conduct further interviews to validate her conclusions? Did she examine Greenberg’s emails?

    Mostly, though, I remain clueless about how, through the long years since Greenberg’s death, her parents, Joshua and Sandra Greenberg, have held on to any semblance of the ability to rest, to sleep — or even breathe.

    SaraKay Smullens, Philadelphia

    U.S. strikes again

    Donald Trump claims he won the election in 2020. He didn’t. He fumes that he didn’t receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which was given for accomplishments in 2024, a year in which he didn’t serve as president. Trump, who was handed more money at birth than most of us will ever earn, has an overdeveloped sense of victimhood while completely lacking in humanity.

    Another six people who were suspected of being drug smugglers were killed on their boat, bringing the total to 27. We don’t know their names. We haven’t been presented with evidence of their crimes. We do know there was no due process. These strikes are accelerating. I worry this might turn inward, as the administration militarizes our cities. Our Congress on both sides of the aisle must wake up and act. We must make sure they do.

    Elliott Miller, Bala Cynwyd

    Rebuilding the Middle East

    The ceasefire in the Middle East brings relief, but there is ongoing pain and trauma to address for those of us who have witnessed it. When I look at the areas to which the people of Israel and Gaza will be returning, it resembles the destruction and loss of life in Western Europe after World War II.

    I am reminded of the Marshall Plan, the U.S.-led initiative that was meant to help rebuild Europe after the Second World War. It seems the world community needs to unite and do something similar now to restore infrastructure, finance reconstruction, and stabilize governments. Can East and West join forces to make life better for the people of Gaza and Israel now?

    Mary McKenna, Philadelphia

    The ebb and flow

    It is starting to really weigh me down — not too much chocolate or an inadequate amount of exercise in the rain, but the day-to-day headlines about everything from American citizens “being disappeared” to drastic cuts in special education funding and the dissolution of a functioning Congress.

    Like countless other people around the world, I was so happy for the families of the Israeli hostages who came home. All that elation, though, was not far removed from the prospect of generational wealth exhibited by the very deliberate presence of Jared Kushner and other allies of President Donald Trump. Trump’s plans for a playground for the rich in the ruins of war now seem more likely than ever — the ebb and the flow.

    The coming days and weeks will continue to illuminate for us all whether or not we can stand up for the weakest, most disconnected and challenged citizens in this country while we can still vote, or are we already too worn out by all the daily blasphemies toward the oppressed and the routinized dismissal of the rule of law?

    Mary Kay Owen, Downingtown

    Dems’ stance on ACA

    Our national shutdown is a fight about restoring tax credits to the Affordable Care Act marketplace and reversing the pending Medicaid cuts. For a public largely indifferent to health policy, it is a gamble for Democrats, who have to explain how these programs might impact them. Even today, most Americans do not understand Medicaid or the ACA marketplace. A criticism of the Dems is, what do they stand for besides being against Donald Trump? Now is the time to stand up for a policy that goes beyond restoring cuts to a bureaucratic, dysfunctional, irrational system to one that is simple enough that all Americans can understand — a properly funded, national health insurance covering everyone.

    Walter Tsou, Philadelphia

    The writer is a former health commissioner of Philadelphia.

    . . .

    I am not surprised to see so many Republican politicians beginning to support the idea of keeping the income caps removed from receiving premium tax credit subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. And this policy, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, will undoubtedly receive more and more support from them if they consider it thoughtfully rather than reacting impulsively.

    However, I find it puzzling that Democrats are making the continuation of this policy part of their platform at all, much less a central component of the government shutdown. Obamacare was designed to expand access to healthcare for low- and middle-income Americans who had previously struggled to afford insurance, and removing the income caps contradicts the original purpose of the law. It also raises questions about fiscal responsibility and equity, as without the income caps, many wealthy families without employers effectively receive five-figure bonus checks each year from Obamacare that are paid for by everyone else.

    Meanwhile, due to the Big Beautiful Bill, married couples with student loans on income-driven repayment will now qualify for $0 in Obamacare premium tax credit subsidies if they wish to limit their student loan payments to a 1,000% increase instead of 2,500%, as this requires filing their federal taxes as “married filing separately” — which also disqualifies them from various other benefits, including the child tax credit.

    It is baffling how Democrats have become so misaligned with their priorities that they are doing the work of Republicans for them.

    Calvin J. Haneline, Paragould, Ark.

    Love for the Phillies

    Like letter writer Peter Schmidt, I find I have a new perspective on the epic saga that is the Phillies. For most of my seven decades, I have been only a casual fan of city teams. Still, I’ve acquired that shell so many in our region wear — a shield against disappointment built of cynicism and a grumbling.

    But the last few seasons have been different. My daughter lives 700 miles away in Georgia, but we share our thoughts on games almost every night by a stream of text messages, stats, and emoji-decorated cheers and groans.

    Though I questioned if the Phils had the stuff to win the World Series, I grew to love everybody involved, heroes and goats alike. When we took my grandsons (13 months and 3 years old) to a game this summer at their aunt’s insistence, the whole family reveled in the boys’ enjoyment. Despite their lack of understanding of the game, they delighted in the general fun at the Bank: the Phanatics’ antics, the massive pile of ice cream in a miniature batting helmet, and the chance to yell “Go Phillies!” without being shushed.

    Even at its most serious, the game is just a game, and our disappointment is not tragedy. But the bond fans have with the team — and with each other — bridges gaps of miles, age, and unfamiliarity. That sense of sharing, almost in spite of ourselves, is why I love the Phillies.

    Joe Jones, Mount Holly

    Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

  • Dear Abby | Family reenters school and workplace after tragedy

    DEAR ABBY: Six months ago, my oldest child died in a horrific car accident. Our family went into a sort of hibernation for several months, mourning and trying to deal with the sadness of the situation.

    Now the kids are back in school, and I’m starting to work again. I’m interacting with a lot of people I haven’t seen since before the accident who maybe don’t know what happened. How do I respond when they ask perfectly reasonable questions, like “What’s new?” or “How was your break?” I want to be honest and let people know I’m not really OK. But I also want to avoid “trauma dumping,” or providing too much information they aren’t ready for.

    The full truth is a lot for anyone to hear. If I say something like, “We’ve had some family issues that have been hard,” people tend to assume I’m getting a divorce or have cancer, which changes how they interact with me. If I tell the truth they almost always start crying, which makes me cry, and then the situation is derailed. What can I say that is true, and that also indicates they don’t really want to know more?

    — SURVIVOR IN TENNESSEE

    DEAR SURVIVOR: Please accept my deepest sympathy for the tragic loss of your first-born child. If someone asks what’s new or how you are, respond, “We’ve been through some trials and tribulations, but we’re moving forward.” If you are questioned further, simply say, “I’d rather not go into detail right now,” and change the subject.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: Six months ago, my grandson, “Levi,” 23, told his father (“Alex”) and me that he wants no contact with us. Levi and his dad had an argument when Alex asked for help paying the utilities, since Levi and his girlfriend live rent-free in Alex’s house. Alex has tried to reach out to Levi through texting, but his texts are ignored. I tried sending texts and letters but received no response either.

    My son is not perfect, but he has always been a loving and devoted father. Levi means the world to him, and this estrangement is causing Alex physical and mental health problems. I have always doted on my grandson and been warm and kind to his girlfriend, so we don’t understand why he turned on me, too. Should I keep trying to reach out, or accept that Levi does not want me in his life? Please advise.

    — DISTRESSED GRANDMOTHER

    DEAR GRANDMOTHER: Levi may be a young adult, but he’s acting like a spoiled child. His father’s request that Levi contribute to the cost of the utilities in the home where he had been living rent-free wasn’t unreasonable. I can only wonder where he and his girlfriend are now living and presumably getting a better deal.

    Stop trying to reach out only to be rejected. When Levi grows up a little, or needs something else from you and his father, he will show up in your lives again. Right now, because Alex isn’t doing well, concentrate on your son’s health.

  • Horoscopes: Monday, Oct. 20, 2025

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). Caring for others is a big part of your life. Sometimes, this seems to lead to getting ground down by stress. Stress is not your identity; it’s just a habit your body and mind learned to keep up. Let it move through you as breath does: inhale, exhale.

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). When the butterfly of happiness flits past, just remember that every emotion has its merits. Even sadness can be a beautiful reminder of our humanity, which deepens our experience and shows us we’re capable of love and attachment.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Because thank-you notes are rare these days, writing one stands out and makes you memorable. The same principle applies more broadly: You’ll mix thoughtfulness, gratitude and initiative, and make a strong and favorable impression.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). The number of moving parts is what makes this part of the story interesting. It’s also a bit stressful since you are dealing with so much that is out of your control. State what you want, step aside, and let things work themselves out.

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). When it feels like no one is listening, remember the value of listening to yourself. Many never hear the song of their own soul. Keep tuning in, and yours will grow so strong and clear that it can’t be ignored.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Relationships are like feelings: none is more or less correct than another. Each is a unique, unfolding dynamic. Some people are easier to be around, but that doesn’t determine the value of the bond.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). When you want to be a part of what’s happening in the room, your approach matters the most — think tone over technical skill. It all starts with noticing what’s needed and matching your attitude to the environment. When in doubt, default to kindness.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Passion doesn’t have to be dramatic to be profound. It doesn’t have to be big to be effective. Even your most secret desire will change you from the inside out. When you change, your circumstances are next.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). When approaching people with something new, you’re likely to hit obstacles. People say no. It’s awkward and others see this. There are false starts that can be embarrassing too. But this is all part of the natural friction of beginnings. Keep going. It gets better.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Ambition is a fire that must be tended carefully. Too much fuel at once burns you out; too little and you sputter. Today’s work is to strike balance: steady logs on the fire, not a bonfire.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The stars are giving you a pep talk about resilience. It’s in the way the nature around you keeps regenerating, the children grow, the tide goes out and comes back in. New oxygen is everywhere.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’ve already proven your strength. You wouldn’t be where you are if you hadn’t powered through tough situations with determination. Don’t forget that track record. You deserve acknowledgment for it.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Oct. 20). Welcome to your Year of Unscripted Adventures. You’ll stumble into scenes you couldn’t have planned, like the wrong turn that leads to a right person, the pet that chooses you, and/or a surprise reunion that gets you dreaming in a whole new direction. More highlights: a stretch of financial mastery that could subsidize your grandest plan, laughter in serious projects that points to a soul connection, and a string of lucky “coincidences.” Gemini and Capricorn adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 13, 27, 5, 41 and 22.