In what should be no surprise banks are cutting back on small business loans. Please consider CNN Money's Small business loans: $10 billion evaporates.  Eight months after President Obama began prodding the nation's banks to increase their small business lending the loan numbers continue to move in the opposite direction.The 22 banks that got the most help from the Treasury's bailout programs cut their small business loan balances by a collective $10.5 billion over the past six months according to a government report released Monday.Three of the 22 banks make no small business loans at all. Of the remaining ...

More than half of regional banks missed third-quarter profit forecasts as the recession and tight credit conditions continued to weigh on these lenders, according to an earnings wrap.

Financial stocks rise in early activity, clawing back some Friday losses as regional bank stocks lead broad gains.

Regions Financial had a tough quarter, as it continued to struggle with losses on home construction loans.

Have equities ever been this overbought? Will the alleged insider trading scandal impact an already fragile societal mindset as it relates to investor psychology? Given at least ten more people in the securities industry will be charged as early as this week according to Bloomberg? How far-reaching will these alleged allegations permeate the financial infrastructure? Corporate America? Corner offices? Hedge fund titans? Where will it end? Or might investors deem this cleansing to be a net positive for the financial process? What if some of the accused players prove that their activities were consistent with the letter of the ...

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by WallStSense.com