Banks haven’t exactly been covering themselves in glory recently. The sector has gone from one pratfall to another ever since Northern Rock first warned it was in trouble last summer.

When is a Black Swan not a Black Swan? When the “perfect storm of highly improbable events” happens all the time.

There’s been a return to risk aversion overnight, as some news from the United Kingdom has reignited the fears that the banks may still be sitting on a ton of bad debt… Of course, as Pfennig readers, you already know this…

How does the prospect of $4 a gallon gasoline sound to you? Undoubtedly, it doesn’t sound all that great. But what if I said that gasoline prices were headed for the $4 a gallon level, but once they got there, they’d head no higher?

Investors in big U.S. banks should be asking that question. Beleaguered bank Washington Mutual was tossed a much-needed lifeline this week. Private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) is agreed to a US$7 billion bailout deal to shore up the troubled mortgage lender.

Boeing Struggles to Get 787 Off Ground; Citigroup Sells $12 Billion in Loans; UPS Failing to Deliver; American Airlines Cancels 1,000 Flights; IBCB Expects 50% First-Quarter Profit Spike; Hershey Trust CEO to Retire; New Oil High; Wholesale Inventories Climb.

Shares Washington Mutual Inc. (WM) dropped 10% yesterday (Tuesday) after the mortgage lender announced it raised $7 billion in capital, while slashing its dividend and cutting 3,000 jobs.