Seven months expresses after regulators fairleigh dickinson draws forced Fremont General Corp. to quit making sub-prime mortgages, the Santa Monica banking company disclosed the damage Wednesday: more than $1 billion in losses stemming from loans to people with bad credit or troubled finances. Filing long-delayed financial reports, the parent of Brea-based Fremont Investment & Loan said it lost $202. 3 million, or $2. 72 a share, in 2006, a year in which harsh competition led it and rivals to loosen lending standards for their high-risk clientele. The first half of 2007 was still worse, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as Fremont lost $879 million on the sale of its portfolio of $6. 9 billion in sub-prime loans. Its net loss for the six months was $856 million, or $11. 19 a share, compared with earnings of $83. 6 million, or $1. 10, during the first half of 2006. Third-quarter financial reports issued Wednesday by other lenders further underscored the depth of damage from the mortgage meltdown -- and the fact that some banks not exposed to the sub-prime sector have so far weathered the storm. Citing rising foreclosures and other problems related to mortgages and the housing market, Newport Beach savings and loan Downey Financial Corp. reported a loss of $23. 4 million, or 84 cents a share, compared with a profit of $55. 6 million, or $1. 99, a year earlier. Downey specializes in adjustable-rate home loans, providing several payment options including a payment so low that the loan balance rises. Chief Executive Daniel Rosenthal expressed disappointment in the quarterly results but said Downey's capital and retail bases were strong enough that it could "continue funding quality loans. "Downey's stock sank $1. 77, or 3. 8%, to $45. 23 on Wednesday. By contrast, Beverly Hills-based City National Corp. , which caters to businesses and their affluent owners, said its profit rose 2% to $60. 1 million, or $1. 22 a share, from $59 million, $1. 20. And Pasadena's East West Bancorp, mainly a business lender with a large base of Chinese American depositors, said its profit rose 16% to $41. 3 million, or 67 cents a share, from $35. 6 million, or 58 cents. East West also said its acquisition of Victorville-based Desert Community Bank closed in August. City National and East West released their results after the stock market closed. They and Downey are among the biggest lenders based in Southern California. City National has $15. 5 billion in assets, Downey has $14. 4 billion and East West has $11. 6 billion. In addition to exiting the sub-prime mortgage business, Fremont sold its large commercial lending arm this year.

In February, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. , its chief regulator, criticized both businesses as too risky and said the mortgage operation was making loans that borrowers couldn't afford. Massachusetts sued Fremont on Oct . 5, saying it had deceived homeowners and driven them into bankruptcy Fremont said the lawsuit had no merit Fairleigh Dickinson Knights . scott. reckard fairleigh dickinson university college at florham . THREE WEEKS into the Israel-Lebanon war, it appears that something, with apologies to Yeats, is slouching toward Bethlehem And it's not pretty knights . Even if the current crisis is resolved with an international force and a buffer zone that pushes Hezbollah back from the border, the future looks grim. Far from giving birth to a new (and better) Middle East, we may find that we've created one even messier and nastier than the old. For one thing, the current crisis is showing us just how effective Iran's reach can be fairleigh dickinson university Fairleigh Dickinson Knights - fduknights . By supplying Hezbollah with long-range rockets, it has changed the strategic equation and created a stunning situation in which a Shiite militia holds its own against one of the world's most effective military powers. Iran's inclination to meddle -- mostly as a way of reminding the Sunni Arab world, Israel and the U. S. that Tehran has cards to play and can inflict pain -- will not go away. And ongoing turmoil in Lebanon, Iraq and Gaza will ensure that when Iran next chooses to meddle, it will have fertile ground in which to do so. A second conclusion to be drawn from the events of recent weeks has to do with the perils of unilateralism.

In the Middle East, if you don't get for what you give, there will be no end to the pressure to give more . Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 and from Gaza in September 2005 may have benefited Israel politically (both domestically and around the world), but it also emboldened Hezbollah and Hamas. That both groups continue to claim that they alone forced Israel out of Arab territory without agreements or reciprocity is more than just a talking point; it is a powerful inspiration to a younger generation of Arabs and Muslims looking for ways to counter their perceived humiliation at the hands of Israel and, by implication, the United States dickinson Fairleigh Dickinson Knights - fduknights . It is no coincidence that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were encouraged by Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 and used it to stoke the flames of their own intifada four months later. At the same time, the fact that Israel felt the need to respond so forcefully to the July 12 Hezbollah attack across its border is a clear indication of its own concern about the erosion of its deterrence and the perception of its weakness. Unless Israel wins a decisive victory over Hezbollah (which seems increasingly unlikely), it is almost unimaginable that any Israeli government would consider significant unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank in the near future farliegh dickinson . With a unilateral approach blocked and no chance of negotiations with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, Israel is faced with the unpalatable alternative of sitting on the West Bank and controlling 3 million Palestinians for some time to come. This will generate increasing anger and bitterness. The third lesson of recent weeks has to do with the growing challenge to central authority by non-state actors in the region. The power of Hamas and Hezbollah to affect events highlights a trend that has been building in the Arab world for some time. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights tickets Iraq has actually been a source of inspiration in this regard: Every day, small armed groups challenge the Iraqi central authority and the U. S with impunity.