The next financial crisis will likely be the big one. All the earmarks are there, and it took an entire book to lay them all out.

That book is Conquer the Crash by Robert Prechter, which has been revised and updated, and here’s just one of the book’s warnings:

In 2008-2009, some U.S. banks came under pressure of insolvency. Fed bailouts kept most of them open. In the next depression, bank runs and mass closings are far more probable.

As you probably know, a preview has already occurred in the past year and a half, namely, well-publicized bank failures.

Indeed, the second, third, and fourth largest bank failures in U.S. history all occurred in 2023 – First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, respectively, according to bankrate.com. The largest bank collapse was Washington Mutual in 2008.

Now, here in 2024, we had this April 27 headline from CBS News:

Republic First Bank closes, first FDIC-insured bank to fail in 2024

Yet, the handwriting was on the wall before that bank failure as EWI’s Murray Gunn explains in a May Global Rates & Money Flows post:

The chart shows that the share price of Republic First was underperforming the iShares US Regional Banks ETF (ticker IAT) since 2022, with that trend accelerating lower in the summer of 2023. It was a warning that something was up at the bank and, sure enough, existential problems have now emerged. The Republic First Bank failure should not be a surprise to anyone who was tracking the share price.

This analysis offers a clue as to how you can keep track of your own bank’s health.

Right now, GRMF shows you the latest “Bank Health Monitor” which reveals the strongest major banks as well as the weakest – and this chart is updated every month.

GRMF also helps you anticipate trends and turns in interest rates, debt markets and more.

If you manage money, we believe you’ll find the insights from our monthly GRMF highly useful – and remember, Murray Gunn offers fresh commentary every market day.

See for yourself by following the link below.