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Source: http://www.facebook.com/wilsontimes/posts/10151766845586291

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Global stock markets drift ahead of Fed statement

BANGKOK (AP) ? Global stock markets drifted Wednesday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve's latest assessment of the U.S. economy.

The Fed is not expected to announce any big changes when it releases an updated policy statement Wednesday at the end of a two-day meeting. However, investors are anxious for clues about when the Fed might start scaling back its monetary stimulus.

"We're unlikely to get anything new, but obviously everyone is cautious just in case we get anything new," said Andrew Sullivan of Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong.

The Fed is buying $85 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds every month to spur growth and lending. While long-term interest rates have been held near record lows, the program has also drawn investors away from bonds and into higher yielding investments like stocks and commodities. Recent hints that the Fed might start scaling back its stimulus program have sent stocks reeling.

Investors are also waiting for the U.S. government to Wednesday report its first estimate of economic growth for the second quarter. DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore said analysts are expecting a drop in GDP growth to 1 percent from 1.8 percent. Most economists blame tax increases and government spending cuts for the sluggish second quarter.

Investors are also focusing on U.S. employment figures for July, due out Friday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the central bank could begin to scale back its bond purchases later this year if the economy strengthens, but Fed officials typically put greater weight on employment and inflation data than the GDP figures.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent to 6,607.08. Germany's DAX was nearly unchanged at 8,271.51. France's CAC-40 rose 0.1 percent to 3,989.25.

Wall Street looked set for another lackluster day, with Dow Jones industrial futures nearly flat at 15,494. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 percent to 1,685.90.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index tumbled 1.5 percent to close at 13,668.32. The Tokyo benchmark closed down 3.3 percent on Monday and then recovered about halfway Tuesday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3 percent to 21,883.66. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.2 percent to 1,914.03. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.1 percent to 5,052. Shares in Sydney jumped in the aftermath of comments by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens, who on Tuesday suggested there was more room for interest rate cuts if needed.

Benchmarks in mainland China rose while Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan fell.

Chinese property stocks were among the big gainers. Shanghai-listed Poly Real Estate Group advanced 3.2 percent while China Resources Land rose 3.4 percent in Hong Kong.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 52 cents to $103.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.47 to close at $103.08 on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3289 from $1.3259 late Tuesday. The dollar fell to 97.68 yen from 98.06 yen.

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Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/global-stock-markets-drift-ahead-fed-statement-091219567.html

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Florida Community Bank boosts loans by $176M, adds jobs

Mark Freerks

Florida Community Bank added 25 employees in the second quarter.

Florida Community Bank grew its loan by $176 million during the second quarter as it brought on 25 additional employees.

The Weston-based bank, a subsidiary of private equity-funded Bond Street Holdings, has been busy on the acquisition front as well. Its deal to buy Jacksonville-based Atlantic Coast Bank fell short after selling shareholders voted against the sale, but now it has a pending $42.5 million deal to acquire Miami Lakes-based Great Florida Bank (Pink Sheets: GFLB).

Florida Community Bank?s organic growth during the second quarter exceeded the size of many small banks in the state. Its loan portfolio reached $1.64 billion on June 30, up from $1.46 billion on March 31. It increased its employee headcount to 567, from 542.

The bank posted earnings of $3.5 million in the second quarter, up from earnings of $3.3 million in the first quarter. Its net interest income was unchanged at $28.8 million. It took a $473,000 expense to reserve for future loan losses, improved from a $1.1 million expense in the first quarter.

Its asset quality got better. Most of its problem assets came from failed banks that it acquired with loss-sharing coverage from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Florida Community Bank had $106.7 million in noncurrent loans, or 6.45 percent of total loans, with $73.2 million of that with FDIC loss sharing on June 30. That?s down from $116.9 million in noncurrent loans, or 7.89 percent, with $78.2 million in FDIC loss sharing on March 31.

The bank held $15.8 million in reserve for future loan losses to cover 47 percent of its loans without FDIC loss sharing protection on June 30.

Brian Bandell covers banking, finance, health care and education. Get the latest banking industry news here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_3/~3/mUwFYEfF87c/florida-community-bank-boosts-loans.html

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