Bank closures, oranges, and broken glass

“A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine,” says the Florida Citrus Commission.  Because of his acid stomach and acid wit, Rocky doesn’t drink much orange juice. Instead, Rocky says,  ”A week without a bank failure is like a week with sunshine.”

According to the FDIC, last week marked one of the  rare weeks of 2009 without a single  bank failure.  Folks who see their glass as “half-full”  will read this statistic as a ray of economic sunshine.  Folks who see their glass as “half-empty” will note that the FDIC usually closes banks on Fridays. Due to the Columbus Day holiday, FDIC employees may have just decided to take a long weekend. The FDIC bank closing list can be viewed here:  http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

Rocky isn’t someone who views his glass as either half-full or half-empty.  Instead, he views his glass as cracked. Hence, he  was not surprised when OJ  prices went “limit up” (outperforming gold) yesterday. The Trading Places-esque price spike occurred after a Agriculture Department crop report showed a 16% decline in  Florida orange production.  See: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aC2tcKYnOSOk

Rocky sensibly concludes that any surviving banks won’t be serving free orange juice to their customers.

[Disclosure: Rocky frequently mixes metaphors, as this is part of constructing a "well-diversified" portfolio.]