The number of residential mortgages that were created last year rose by almost a third, with Wells Fargo leading as the biggest lender, followed by Bank of America.

Chase is emerging as one of the big winners in the bank earnings game, declaring a huge profit for the year 2009, in what is seen as nothing short of a remarkable recovery by Chase and the banking industry in general

It appears that even as the nation is clawing its way out of a recession that only a year ago has put the finance industry on the brink of collapse, banks have already made a quick recovery.

With a lower demand for consumer loans, together with tightened lending standards and increased regulation, banks will have to continue cutting back on their expenses throughout 2010.

JPMorgan Chase has topped this year’s list of underwriters by bringing in about $2.2 billion in fees, which is about double what it earned from the deals last year.

For Citi borrowers at least, no homeowners will be spending the holidays literally out in the cold.

And then there were none. Last month, three of the country's biggest banks, namely Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo, were still billions of dollar in debt in TARP funds.

Since Bank of America announced that it will pay back the TARP funds it borrowed, other large Banks like Wells Fargo and Citibank have been struggling to follow suit.

In an attempt to get the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program back on track, the Obama Administration has decided to increase the resources available to institutions that offer homeowner assistance

Don't be surprised when you fail to see Citigroup Inc. and even General Motors, for that matter, in the Dow Jones Industrial anymore. The Index has officially replaced Citigroup Inc. with Travelers last June 8, 2009. Since the latter part of last year, the shares of the bank have taken a severe beating. From mid-January onwards, Citigroup’s shares were trading below the $5 level. It had even dipped to as low as 97cents after huge losses were announced on March 5 and the government had to step in.