Although you might not realize it given the (still unpleasant) headlines, banks are starting to find solid ground and recover from the financial crisis.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reports that the number of "problem banks" is shrinking. Things are headed in the right direction when there are fewer banks at risk of failure. Most of those banks won't fail, but the problem bank count is a barometer that helps illustrate the health of U.S. banks.
Bank failures are also happening less frequently than they were last year. The New York Times reports:
"There were 74 bank failures through the first nine months of 2011, compared with 127 in the period a year earlier."
The pain is not over, but stronger banks are better able to handle tough economic times (and they're less likely to make things worse).
Further reading:
I hope that the second wave of crisis could be avoided. Nevertheless, developments in the euro area do not add optimism ((