Near-term, the pending common raise will act as a governor on the shares unless 2Q09 results materially surprise to the upside in conjunction with a drop in NPAs; that seems unlikely.

"We have a long and proud history of paying dividends and understand how important the dividend is to our shareholders, so this decision to temporarily reduce the dividend was extremely difficult for the board and, for me personally, it marks the worst day in my 37 year career. However, we firmly believe this action is in the long-term best interests of our shareholders and our company because of the risk and uncertainty associated with being a TARP participant. In addition, our current earnings, while superior to our peers, are not likely to justify our $.47 dividend in the near term."

“There are glimmers of hope” in the financial sector, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union when asked if the industry had turned a corner. “I think it was a positive step,” said Corker of the Obama administrations’ recent “stress tests” on the nation’s largest banks. “But there will possibly be additional government dollars [for some financial institutions]. I think that hasn’t fully been said and I think that what we’ve got to be concerned about as we move into the future is not causing [the Troubled Asset Relief Program] to be codified so that it’s there forever.” “I actually am feeling better about it. I really am,” Corker, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, added.

Investors fretted for weeks that the Treasury wanted to nationalize parts of the banking system, despite repeated efforts by Mr. Geithner and others to dispel that idea. In retrospect, the tests were akin to hitting the pause button. The period allowed Mr. Geithner to buy time for the government's evolving approach to the banking crisis, which had previously been ad hoc and heavily criticized.

Goldman’s action has put pressure on other financial institutions to do the same or risk being judged in far worse shape by investors. The administration feared that details on healthier banks would inevitably leak out, leaving weaker banks exposed to speculation and damaging market rumors, possibly making any further bailouts more costly.

"There were two things I liked: the help for the securitization markets, and the President's call to make the banks report how much lending they are doing," said Keith Ashmus, a Cleveland-based attorney and chairman of the National Small Business Assn. "We are seeing business after business with a history of promptly paying their bills just get their credit lines canceled."

Given the weak state of the economy, however, it is not clear how many small businesses want to borrow money at this time. A survey of small business owners conducted last month for Discover Financial Services found that 23 percent said they would be very likely to apply for an SBA loan if they became easier to get. Another 17 percent said it was somewhat likely they would apply for an SBA loan. The survey found, however, that 90 percent of small businesses had never applied for an SBA loan.

Your local Tennessee banks have been working hard for the last year, and will continue to work hard in 2009 to make sure they protect the assets of their depositors and shareholders, provide capital for local projects, and provide jobs for the 30,000-plus Tennesseans who work in the financial industry. I hope my fellow Tennesseans will think twice before taking out their frustrations with Wall Street on a banker from Main Street.