During the past 10 days we've watched the second and third-largest U.S. bank failures, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, roil financial markets amid fears of a broader meltdown. Certainly, those with no more than $250,000 in any one bank or credit union should rest assured their money is safe. It's also worth knowing that the S&L crisis, the mortgage lending crisis and the failure of Silicon Valley Bank all followed deregulatory federal action. The thing with federal bonds is, you can't lose money if you hold them to maturity. "That required selling typically safe bonds at a loss, and those losses added up to the point that Silicon Valley Bank became effectively insolvent," the Associated Press reported.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 19, 2023 13:23 UTC