Earthquake Dangers for S and Ls

½Profit squeezes cause some fears of financial chaos

Savings and loan associations are almost as homespun as Jimmy Stewart. In Frank Capra's 1946 movie It's a Wonderful Life, the actor played an embattled S and L officer who eventually triumphs over evildoers when depositors unite to save his business. The nation's 4,600 S and Ls could use a little of the Capra grass-roots rescue treatment right now. Along with their sister "thrifts," the 460 mutual savings S and L banks are caught in a profit squeeze that some analysts fear could lead to their collapse and ultimately to U.S. financial chaos. Says...

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