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Securities
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Securities [Abstract] 
Securities
3. 
Securities
 
Securities available for sale consist of the following:

      
Unrealized
    
   
Amortized Cost
  
Gains
  
Losses
  
Fair Value
 
   
(In thousands)
 
September 30, 2011
            
U.S. agency residential mortgage-backed
 $52,854  $978  $128  $53,704 
Private label residential mortgage-backed
  12,073   -   3,378   8,695 
Obligations of states and political subdivisions
  28,550   706   93   29,163 
Trust preferred
  4,696   -   1,470   3,226 
Total
 $98,173  $1,684  $5,069  $94,788 
                  
December 31, 2010
                
U.S. agency residential mortgage-backed
 $13,103  $249  $21  $13,331 
Private label residential mortgage-backed
  18,203   31   4,050   14,184 
Obligations of states and political subdivisions
  31,534   375   650   31,259 
Trust preferred
  9,472   116   498   9,090 
Total
 $72,312  $771  $5,219  $67,864 

Our investments' gross unrealized losses and fair values aggregated by investment type and length of time that individual securities have been at a continuous unrealized loss position follows:
 
   
Less Than Twelve Months
  
Twelve Months or More
  
Total
 
   
Fair Value
  
Unrealized
Losses
  
Fair Value
  
Unrealized
Losses
  
Fair Value
  
Unrealized
Losses
 
   
(In thousands)
 
September 30, 2011
                  
U.S. agency residential mortgage-backed
 $25,290  $128  $-  $-  $25,290  $128 
Private label residential mortgage-backed
  266   23   8,426   3,355   8,692   3,378 
Obligations of states and political political subdivisions
  452   8   2,110   85   2,562   93 
Trust preferred
  1,189   619   2,037   851   3,226   1,470 
Total
 $27,197  $778  $12,573  $4,291  $39,770  $5,069 
                          
December 31, 2010
                        
U.S. agency residential mortgage-backed
 $2,733  $21  $-  $-  $2,733  $21 
Private label residential mortgage-backed
  -   -   12,624   4,050   12,624   4,050 
Obligations of states and political subdivisions
  8,371   428   1,796   222   10,167   650 
Trust preferred
  -   -   2,384   498   2,384   498 
Total
 $11,104  $449  $16,804  $4,770  $27,908  $5,219 
 
Our portfolio of available-for-sale securities is reviewed quarterly for impairment in value. In performing this review management considers (1) the length of time and extent that fair value has been less than cost, (2) the financial condition and near term prospects of the issuer, (3) the impact of changes in market interest rates on the market value of the security and (4) an assessment of whether we intend to sell, or it is more likely than not that we will be required to sell a security in an unrealized loss position before recovery of its amortized cost basis.  For securities that do not meet these recovery criteria, the amount of impairment recognized in earnings is limited to the amount related to credit losses, while impairment related to other factors is recognized in other comprehensive income or loss.

U.S. Agency residential mortgage-backed securities - at September 30, 2011 we had 12 securities whose fair market value is less than amortized cost. The unrealized losses are largely attributed to modest spread widening on certain issues. As management does not intend to liquidate these securities and it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell these securities prior to recovery of these unrealized losses, no declines are deemed to be other than temporary.

Private label residential mortgage-backed securities - at September 30, 2011 we had eight securities whose fair value is less than amortized cost.  Two of the issues are rated by a major rating agency as investment grade while four are below investment grade and two are split rated.  Six of these bonds have impairment in excess of 10% and only one of these holdings has been impaired for less than 12 months.  During the third quarter one security that was impaired at June 30, 2011 with a fair value of $1.5 million and unrealized loss of $0.3 million paid off ($1.8 million in proceeds were received).
 
The unrealized losses are largely attributable to credit spread widening on these securities. The underlying loans within these securities include Jumbo (77%) and Alt A (23%) at September 30, 2011.
 
   
September 30, 2011
  
December 31, 2010
 
   
Fair
Value
  
Net
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
  
Fair
Value
  
Net
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
 
   
(In thousands)
 
              
Private label residential mortgage-backed
            
Jumbo
 $6,702  $(2,164) $8,429  $(2,600)
Alt-A
  1,993   (1,214)  5,755   (1,419)

Seven of the private label residential mortgage-backed transactions have geographic concentrations in California, ranging from 22% to 58% of the collateral pool. Typical exposure levels to California (median exposure is 47%) are consistent with overall market collateral characteristics. Three transactions have modest exposure to Florida, ranging from 5% to 7% and one transaction has modest exposure to Nevada (5%). The underlying collateral pools do not have meaningful exposure to Arizona, Michigan or Ohio. None of the issues involve subprime mortgage collateral. Thus the impact of this market segment is only indirect, in that it has impacted liquidity and pricing in general for private label residential mortgage-backed securities. The majority of transactions are backed by fully amortizing loans. However, six transactions have concentrations in interest only loans ranging from 31% to 94% (at origination date). The structure of the residential mortgage securities portfolio provides protection to credit losses. The portfolio primarily consists of senior securities as demonstrated by the following: super senior (20%), senior (47%), senior support (24%) and mezzanine (9%). The mezzanine classes are from seasoned transactions (85 months) with a significant level of subordination (8.4%). Except for the additional discussion below relating to other than temporary impairment, each private label residential mortgage-backed security has sufficient credit enhancement via subordination to reasonably assure full realization of book value. This assertion is based on a transaction level review of the portfolio.

Individual security reviews include: external credit ratings, forecasted weighted average life, recent prepayment speeds, underwriting characteristics of the underlying collateral, the structure of the securitization and the credit performance of the underlying collateral. The review of underwriting characteristics considers: average loan size, type of loan (fixed or ARM), vintage, rate, FICO, loan-to-value, scheduled amortization, occupancy, purpose, geographic mix and loan documentation. The review of the securitization structure focuses on the priority of cash flows to the bond, the priority of the bond relative to the realization of credit losses and the level of subordination available to absorb credit losses. The review of credit performance includes: current period as well as cumulative realized losses; the level of severe payment problems, which includes other real estate (ORE), foreclosures, bankruptcy and 90 day delinquencies; and the level of less severe payment problems, which consists of 30 and 60 day delinquencies.

All of these securities are receiving some principal and interest payments. Most of these transactions are passthrough structures, receiving pro rata principal and interest payments from a dedicated collateral pool for loans that are performing. The nonreceipt of interest cash flows is not expected and thus not presently considered in our discounted cash flow methodology discussed below.

In addition to the review discussed above, certain private label residential mortgage-backed securities, including the four securities with a rating below investment grade are reviewed for OTTI utilizing a cash flow projection. The scope of review included securities that account for 98% of the $3.4 million in gross unrealized losses. The cash flow analysis forecasted cash flow from the underlying loans in each transaction and then applied these cash flows to the bonds in the securitization. The cash flows from the underlying loans considered contractual payment terms (scheduled amortization), prepayments, defaults and severity of loss given default. The analysis used dynamic assumptions for prepayments, defaults and loss severity. Near term prepayment assumptions were based on recently observed prepayment rates. More weight was given to longer term historic performance (12 months).  In some cases, recently observed prepayment rates are lower than historic norms due to the absence of new jumbo loan issuances. This loan market is heavily dependent upon securitization for funding, and new securitization transactions have been minimal. Our model projections anticipate that prepayment rates gradually revert to historical levels. For seasoned ARM transactions, normalized prepayment rates are estimated at 15% to 25% CPR. For fixed rate collateral (one transaction), the prepayment speeds are projected to be flat.

Default assumptions are largely based on the volume of existing real-estate owned, pending foreclosures and severe delinquencies. Other considerations include the quality of loan underwriting, recent default experience, realized loss performance and the volume of less severe delinquencies. Default levels generally are projected to remain elevated or increase for a period of time sufficient to address the level of distressed loans in the transaction. Our projections expect defaults to then decline, generally beginning in year three. Current loss severity assumptions are based on recent observations when meaningful data is available. Loss severity is expected to remain elevated for the next three years as recent housing data remains weak. Severity is expected to decline beginning in year four as the back log of foreclosure and distressed sales clear the market.  Except for two securities discussed in further detail below (both are currently below investment grade), our cash flow analysis forecasts complete recovery of our cost basis for each reviewed security.

At September 30, 2011 two below investment grade private label residential mortgage-backed securities with fair values of $4.0 million and $0.3 million, respectively and unrealized losses of $1.4 million and $0.02 million, respectively (amortized cost of $5.4 million and $0.3 million, respectively) had losses that were considered other than temporary.

The underlying loans in the first transaction are 30 year fixed rate jumbos with an average FICO of 744 and an average loan-to-value ratio of 72%. The loans backing this transaction were originated in 2007 and this is our only security backed by 2007 vintage loans. We believe that this vintage is a key differentiating factor between this security and the others in our portfolio that do not have unrealized losses that are considered OTTI. The bond is a senior security that is receiving principal and interest payments similar to principal reductions in the underlying collateral. The cash flow analysis described above calculated $0.318 million of credit related OTTI as of September 30, 2011 and was recognized in our consolidated statements of operations ($0.056 million and $0.169 million during the first nine months of 2011 and 2010, respectively and $0.197 million and $0.065 million during the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively). The remaining unrealized loss was attributed to other factors and is reflected in other comprehensive income (loss) during those same periods.
 
The underlying loans in the second transaction are 30 year hybrid ARM jumbos with an average FICO of 738 and an average loan-to-value ratio of 57%. The loans backing this transaction were originated in 2005. The bond is a senior support security that is receiving principal and interest payments similar to principal reductions in the underlying collateral. The cash flow analysis described above calculated credit related OTTI of $0.288 million as of September 30, 2011 and was recognized in our consolidated statements of operations ($0.090 million and $0.198 million during the first nine months of 2011 and 2010, respectively). The remaining unrealized loss was attributed to other factors and is reflected in other comprehensive income (loss) during those same periods.

As management does not intend to liquidate these securities and it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell these securities prior to recovery of these unrealized losses, no other declines discussed above are deemed to be other than temporary.

Obligations of states and political subdivisions - at September 30, 2011 we had five municipal securities whose fair value is less than amortized cost. The unrealized losses are largely attributed to a widening of market spreads and continued illiquidity for certain issues.  The majority of the securities are not rated by a major rating agency. Approximately 59% of the non rated securities originally had a AAA credit rating by virtue of bond insurance. However, the insurance provider no longer has an investment grade rating. The remaining non rated issues are small local issues that did not receive a credit rating due to the size of the transaction. The non rated securities have a periodic internal credit review according to established procedures. As management does not intend to liquidate these securities and it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell these securities prior to recovery of these unrealized losses, no declines are deemed to be other than temporary.

Trust preferred securities - at September 30, 2011 we had four securities whose fair value is less than amortized cost. All of our trust preferred securities are single issue securities issued by a trust subsidiary of a bank holding company. The pricing of trust preferred securities over the past three to four years has suffered from significant credit spread widening fueled by uncertainty regarding potential losses of financial companies, the absence of a liquid functioning secondary market and potential supply concerns from financial companies issuing new debt to recapitalize themselves. During the first nine months of 2011 pricing for all issues decreased due to credit spread widening.

One of the four securities is rated by a major rating agency as investment grade, while one is split rated (this security is rated as investment grade by one major rating agency and below investment grade by another) and the other two are non-rated. The non-rated issues are relatively small banks and were never rated. The issuers of these non-rated trust preferred securities, which had a total amortized cost of $2.8 million and total fair value of $1.8 million as of September 30, 2011, continue to make interest payments and have satisfactory credit metrics.

An additional $0.250 million trust preferred security was written down to zero as of December 31, 2010, including a $0.067 million credit related OTTI charge in the first quarter of 2010.
 
The following table breaks out our trust preferred securities in further detail as of September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010:

   
September 30, 2011
  
December 31, 2010
 
   
Fair
Value
  
Net
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
  
Fair
Value
  
Net
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
 
   
(In thousands)
 
              
Trust preferred securities
            
Rated issues
 $1,424  $(464) $6,290  $(375)
Unrated issues - no OTTI
  1,802   (1,006)  2,800   (7)

As management does not intend to liquidate these securities and it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell these securities prior to recovery of these unrealized losses, no declines are deemed to be other than temporary.

During the nine month periods ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 we recorded in earnings OTTI charges on securities available for sale of $0.1 million and $0.4 million, respectively.  During the three month periods ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 we recorded in earnings OTTI charges on securities available for sale of $0.004 million and $0.3 million, respectively.  These charges were incurred on two private label residential mortgage-backed securities (three and nine month periods in 2011 and 2010) and a trust preferred security (nine month period in 2010) as discussed above.

A roll forward of credit losses recognized in earnings on securities available for sale for the nine month periods ending September 30, follows:

   
2011
  
2010
 
   
(In thousands)
 
Balance at beginning of year
 $710  $248 
Additions to credit losses on securities for which no previous OTTI was recognized
  -   - 
Increases to credit losses on securities for which OTTI was previously recognized
  146   434 
Total
 $856  $682 

The amortized cost and fair value of securities available for sale at September 30, 2011, by contractual maturity, follow. The actual maturity may differ from the contractual maturity because issuers may have the right to call or prepay obligations with or without call or prepayment penalties.

   
Amortized
  
Fair
 
   
Cost
  
Value
 
   
(In thousands)
 
Maturing within one year
 $1,364  $1,377 
Maturing after one year but within five years
  8,678   8,991 
Maturing after five years but within ten years
  11,065   10,862 
Maturing after ten years
  12,139   11,159 
    33,246   32,389 
U.S. agency residential mortgage-backed
  52,854   53,704 
Private label residential mortgage-backed
  12,073   8,695 
Total
 $98,173  $94,788 
 
Gains and losses realized on the sale of securities available for sale are determined using the specific identification method and are recognized on a trade-date basis.  A summary of proceeds from the sale of securities available for sale and gains and losses for the nine month periods ending September 30, follows:

   
Proceeds
  
Realized
Gains
  
Losses(1)
 
   
(In thousands)
 
2011
 $70,322  $279  $75 
2010
  95,444   1,878   221 
 

(1) Losses in 2011 and 2010 exclude $0.146 million and $0.434 million, respectively of credit related OTTI recognized in earnings.

During 2011 and 2010 our trading securities consisted of various preferred stocks. During the first nine months of 2011 and 2010 we recognized gains (losses) on trading securities of $0.067 million and $(0.032) million, respectively, that are included in net gains (losses) on securities in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.  Both of these amounts, relate to gains (losses) recognized on trading securities still held at each respective period end.