Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium online newsletter published by the current No. 1 best-selling author, WND staff writer and senior managing director of the Financial Services Group at Gilford Securities.
The number of bank failures has passed 100, a dramatic increase from this time last year when the number of failed banks numbered 64, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
So far this year, the FDIC has taken over 103 insolvent banks, at an estimated cost of $431 billion.
Advertisement - story continues below
Although the FDIC fund grew by $145 million during the first quarter of 2010, the first increase in two years, the FDIC was still operating $20.7 billion in the red.
"The inevitable conclusion is that with a $1.5 trillion Obama administration federal budget deficit likely for fiscal year 2010, the FDIC is borrowing from China to close banks in the United States," Corsi wrote.
TRENDING: Another bank acquiring collapsed Silicon Valley Bank in major deal
The U.S. Treasury reported at the end of April that China held $900.2 billion in U.S. Treasury debt among its $2.45 trillion stockpile of foreign-exchange reserves, the largest ever held by any nation.
Advertisement - story continues below
China's holdings of U.S. debt are now so extensive that last week China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange felt compelled to come forward to assert that China would not use the "nuclear option" to dump U.S. Treasuries in a move to damage the U.S. economically.
Greg Hunter at USAWatchdog.com now safely predicts there will be more bank failures this year than the 140 insolvent banks the FDIC closed last year.
At the end of the first quarter 2010, there were 775 banks on the FDIC's list of "problem banks," the highest number since 1992.
The trend in bank failures has increased dramatically since 2008, according to FDIC data.
For more information on FDIC loss-share agreements and how they will undermine Obama's mortgage modification program, read Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium, online intelligence news source by the WND staff writer, columnist and author of the New York Times No. 1 best-seller, "The Obama Nation."
Advertisement - story continues below
Red Alert's author, who received a doctorate from Harvard in political science in 1972, is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-sellers "The Obama Nation" and (with co-author John E. O'Neill) "Unfit for Command." He is also the author of several other books, including "America for Sale," "The Late Great U.S.A." and "Why Israel Can't Wait." In addition to serving as a senior staff reporter for WorldNetDaily, Corsi is a senior managing director in the financial-services group at Gilford Securities.
Disclosure: Gilford Securities, founded in 1979, is a full-service boutique investment firm headquartered in New York City providing an array of financial services to institutional and retail clients, from investment banking and equity research to retirement planning and wealth-management services. The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the author are his alone and do not necessarily reflect Gilford Securities Incorporated's views, opinions, positions or strategies. Gilford Securities Incorporated makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability or validity of any information expressed herein and will not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.
For full immediate access to Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, subscribe now.