We all know the tale of poor ol' Humpty Dumpty, after all, he had that great fall. Then of course, all the Kings horses, and all the Kings men, couldn't put poor Humpty back together again. With banks total announced losses to date of $400 billion, and bank write-down's just getting started, it would appear Humpty Dumpty's fall may indeed be fatal.

According to a study by Bridgewater Associates, bank losses could reach a staggering $1,600 billion (that's $1.6 trillion). How are these mind boggling losses being spread across the board?

Well, here are a few tidbits of information I managed to dredge up for you.

Citigroup posted a $US2.5 billion ($2.57 billion) loss, which, while large, was better than analysts had expected. That news capped a week that began with investors rattled by the federal seizure of IndyMac Bank and by the woes of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The FDIC estimated that its takeover of IndyMac would cost between $4 billion and $8 billion.

Wells Fargo took a provision for credit losses of $3 billion in the second quarter, which included total charge offs of $1.5 billion, and an increase in reserves for future losses of $1.5 billion.

Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan, said Tuesday that it lost $1.14 billion in the first quarter. The Seattle-based thrift lost $1.40 per share, compared with a profit of $784 million, or 86 cents per share, in the first quarter a year earlier.

Freddie Mac owed $5.2 billion more than its assets were worth in the first quarter, making it insolvent under fair value accounting rules. The fair value of Fannie Mae's assets tumbled 66 percent to $12.2 billion and may be negative next quarter.

In late April, Countrywide reported a first-quarter net loss of $893 million (while their CEO took a $48 million salary) or $1.60 per diluted share. In the same period last year, it posted a profit of $434 million, or 72 cents per diluted share.

Sovereign Bancorp of Philadelphia said it would take a $1.6 billion write-off for the fourth quarter, much of it related to mortgage lending. However, $600 million of the loss was due to defaults on consumer loans, an indication that the financial crisis is spreading. Sovereign said it had stopped issuing auto loans in seven of the 15 states in which it does business-Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina.

National City's stock tumbling 28 percent to its lowest level in about 17 years after the bank also posted a $171 million first-quarter loss and slashed its dividend.

Wachovia said it expects to report an after-tax loss of between $2.6 and $2.8 billion, or $1.23 to $1.33 per share, for the second quarter. The bank holds a substantial $170 billion residential mortgage portfolio; a whopping $121 billion of that total was in the form of option ARMs at the end of Q1.

Wachovia's option ARM portfolio saw non-performing assets jump by $1.6 billion in just one quarter to $4.6 billion at the end of Q1, almost 4 percent of loans; analysts expect that number could be as high as $7.5 billion when the company reports its Q2 results.

Losses from securities linked to subprime mortgages may exceed $265 billion as regional U.S. banks, credit unions and overseas financial institutions write down the value of their holdings, according to Standard & Poor's. Citi Bank and Bank of America has together lost $296-billion in market capitalization over the last year.

These are lenders we're all familiar with, and there are too many more to post. One thing is quite clear, the situation is bad, and getting worse. The question remains, can we put Humpty back together, or will we be walking on eggshells for years to come?