ML-Implode News - Banks Are Hoarding $2.4 Trillion of Bonds (AS ECONOMY STAYS CRUDDY)

In the past year, more loan officers at large and midsize banks have tightened credit to businesses than at any time since 2009, when the U.S. was still reeling from the housing bust. Americans are also saving more rather than taking on extra debt, damping demand for new loans.
Though it's hard to say whether that means the seven-year-long U.S. expansion may be closer to an end than the upbeat data suggest, the demand for bonds is welcome news for investors buffeted by the biggest monthly selloff since 2010.
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Banks aren't lending more because the economy "isn't growing as fast as we'd like it to grow," said Paul Miller, a bank analyst at FBR Capital Markets & Co. "Banks are only able to take a certain amount of risk."

... "We are being very selective in what loans we make and who we make one to," said Thomas Wornham, CEO and president of San Diego Private Bancorp of America, which extended loans at almost twice the rate of its deposit growth last quarter. "What you are seeing out there is a slowdown."

Relevant:

Banks Are Hoarding $2.4 Trillion of Bonds (AS ECONOMY STAYS CRUDDY)