Monthly Archive for May, 2011

Atlantic Southern Bank Finally Fails, Took Longer Than Expected

Posted on May 20, 2011, 9:17 pm. Closed

Atlantic Southern Bank, based in Macon, Georgia, finally failed. Here is the FDIC’s news release:

CertusBank, National Association, Easley, South Carolina, acquired the banking operations, including all the deposits, of Atlantic Southern Bank, Macon, Georgia, and First Georgia Banking Company, Franklin, Georgia. The two banks were closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the FDIC as receiver for each institution. To protect depositors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) entered into purchase and assumption agreements with CertusBank, N.A.

All 26 branches of the two closed banks will reopen during their normal business hours beginning Saturday as branches of CertusBank, N.A. Depositors of the two failed banks will automatically become depositors of CertusBank, N.A. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Atlantic Southern Bank had 16 branches, and First Georgia Banking Company had 10 branches.

These two were the 41st and 42nd to fail this year and the 11th and 12th of Georgia banks to fail…

I predicted way back in the summer of 2009 that it was only a matter of time before Atlantic Southern failed—take a look at my collective posts on Atlantic. It took somewhat longer than expected, but it feels good the situation has finally been resolved! Hopefully the new owners will be able to right the wrongs that took place there and will be able to turn the bank around.

Eight Months Since the Last Down Month

Posted on May 7, 2011, 4:06 pm. Closed

August 2010 was the last month the market had a negative return for that month. So we’ve had eight months in a row of positive monthly returns. It really seems likely that we might have some down months coming up.

I’ve also noticed that the cumulative return for my retirement portfolio, which I started managing in November 2009, crossed 50% a week or two ago, which is just crushing the market returns and also the returns of many value investors I hold in high regard. I often ask myself if this is the product of mostly skill or mostly luck—I think its the former, but I’ll give myself another three years to so that I have a sufficient track record.

I always try to stay humble and I always try to remain wary of risk. I am always asking myself if there is anything that I’m missing with any stock I’m considering. I look forward to to what my results will be in another three years.