A total of 10 U.S. banks have now repaid the preference share investments in them made by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), thus demonstrating that the government thinks they are sound. A number of others have yet to pay back that federal infusion. For investors, the question is this: Where do we go from here?

From the depths of the credit crisis last November, the price of Goldman Sachs’ stock (NYSE: GS) has soared 178%. The price of gold, meanwhile, has advanced a mere 25%. Is Goldman, therefore, the new gold? An investment acolyte could easily draw that conclusion.

The toxic tentacles of recession seem to extend into every imaginable – and unimaginable – pocket of the economy. As these tentacles release their toxins, the resulting distress affects both individuals and industries alike, often in ways we might not have imagined in advance. But so too do recessions impart the occasional surprising benefit. Our advice: Enjoy the benefits when and where you can because this recession is likely to get much worse before it gets better.

Despite promises of open government, the Obama administration tried to “cover up the very existence of smoking-gun documents” prepared for a meeting in which former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson allegedly coerced major banks to allow the government to take equity stakes, according to conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.

Even though the government stress tests have ended and the banks in question have set about raising the required capital, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s believes the nation’s banking crisis has “merely entered a new phase” and might not end before 2013.

One business day removed from the government’s bank stress tests, four of the largest U.S. banks – BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) – announced plans to raise capital through stock offerings.

Now that the results of the U.S. bank stress tests are finally in the books, the extent of the capital shortfalls are known and – in many cases – are actually being addressed.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) plans to sell assets and issue more common stock after being told by the federal government that it must raise $33.9 billion to adequately guard against “more adverse” economic conditions.

The results of the government’s bank stress tests were released yesterday (Thursday), and the U.S. Federal Reserve has directed 10 banks to raise an aggregate $70 billion-plus in capital.

The results of the government’s bank stress tests won’t be released until 5 p.m. today, but people familiar with the tests and banks involved have already leaked some of the results.