I thought this article was interesting: The Top 12 U.S. Banks: From Zombies to Hidden Gems. Is yours one of these?

Some highlights:

[The] designations, or labels, consist of:

* Zombies: Institutions kept alive only by TARP funding. These subtract value from the economy and should be put out of their misery through controlled liquidation, with the healthy parts being salvaged.

* Walking Wounded: These banks may need a little bit more help, but are currently operating adequately on their own. One caveat: An intensification of economic downturn could push some of them into "zombie" status - or even bankruptcy.

* Risky but Proud: These banks have relatively high risks, because of acquisitions or their business models, but are operating at full blast and can hold their heads high for their success in dealing with 2008’s enormous difficulties.

* Hidden Gems: These banks have conquered 2008’s difficulties, taken care of their bad debt problems, and still managed to make a substantial profit. Short of a repeat of what U.S. banks had to deal with from 1929-1933, as part of the Great Depression, these financial institutions should continue to operate in the black.

The 12 largest US banks rate as follows (see the article for details on why each received its respective rating):

1. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) - Zombie:

2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) - Risky but Proud:

3. Citigroup Inc. (C) - Zombie:

4. Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) - Risky but Proud:

5. PNC Financial Services (PNC) - Risky but Proud:

6. U.S. Bancorp (USB) - Hidden Gem:

7. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) - Hidden Gem:

8. SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) - Walking Wounded:

9. State Street Corp. (STT) - Hidden Gem:

10. Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) - Walking Wounded:

11. BB&T Corp. (BBT) - Hidden Gem:

12. Regions Financial Corp. (RF) - Walking Wounded:

Did you count?  Did you notice?  How many of those fell into each category?

7 are doing just fine

3 look weak and might just need a little help

2 are only alive due to life-support

With regard to public policy, it’s very difficult to justify $1.5 trillion of taxpayers' money being used to buy assets from these banks... particularly when it's future taxpayers' money.

Apart from the two dogs, all these banks have shown themselves perfectly capable of handling the difficult parts of their asset portfolios. That means that setting up a separate state bureaucracy to manage them, instead. is just asking for a high-cost taxpayer rip-off.

Unless it’s proposed to devote $1.5 trillion of taxpayer money to the apparently hopeless task of sorting out Bank of America and Citigroup, the true need is much smaller, with the remaining $315 billion from the original TARP program probably being more than ample for the other U.S. banks.

The most likely near-term need would appear to be capital injections into one or two of the weaker members of this Group of 12. As for the true bow-wows, the best solution from a public-policy and taxpayer-protection viewpoint would be to allow Bank of America and Citigroup to slide into Chapter 11 re-organization, with the ultimate objective being a breakup and sell-off of the worthwhile pieces, while holding back the relatively modest amounts of government financing or Federal Reserve money that might be needed to staunch any blood-letting that their bankruptcy caused.

So, where does your bank fall?  And what do you think should be done with regard to the banking industry?