Another big rise in bank write-offs

Some Wall Street analysts believe that most write-offs for subprime mortgages, LBO loans, and other credit paper are behind the big banks and brokerages. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) analysts think otherwise.

According to Bloomberg: "Wall Street banks, brokerages and hedge funds may report $460 billion in credit losses from the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, or almost four times the amount already disclosed."

If the analysis is true, it will cause two huge problems in the financial markets. The first is that banks and brokerages will probably have to raise more money. This capital may be hard to come by. Sovereign funds and private equity firms appear to have lost their appetites for investing in US financial companies while their stocks keep dropping. That leaves the Fed to provide more capital, which will have to come from someplace. That someplace is the tax base especially individual taxpayers.

The other byproduct of more losses is that banks will cut lending to customers even further instead of risking capital on consumer credit, auto loans, mortgages, and small business loans.

In other words, borrowing a dollar for a cup of coffee may be out of the question.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.