No banking recovery likely until 2010.

• Position: YOUR LIFE

The fourth quarter of 2008 was a horrific one fur the banking industry, and the financial condition of commercial banks and savings and loans is expected to deteriorate further fur the rest of 2009 and the first part of 2010, according to Barron H. Putham, president of the Frederick, Md.-based Lace Financial Corp., which provides--without compensation--credit rating services on approximately 19,000 domestic and international financial and related institutions.

Lace predicts that second quarter 2009 gross domestic product growth will be close to the negative 6.2% reported in the first quarter, with a likely overall negative three percent growth for the year.

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"Unemployment is likely to approach--and possibly exceed--10% this year. The devastating decline in U.S. household wealth (11 trillion dollars), increasing nonperforming assets in the world's banking systems, rising unemployment, deterioration in U.S. corporate wealth, as well as a deteriorating economic condition in our nation's largest trading partners will prolong the U.S. recession;' Putnam predicts. "Although world governments are injecting capital into their banking systems, this, by itself, will not increase new lending. You can't 'push a string'; there has to be loan demand. Currently, banks are more concerned about their increasing...