Canary in the Coal Mine? Or Just One Boo-Boo?

We don't really want to hear about more of these.

One month ago, SunTrust got $3.5Bn from the Treasury in its 'capital transaction' program.

Yesterday, we read this:

"[T]he economic situation is decidedly bleaker than was the case when we announced our initial, partial regulatory capital transaction under the Treasury program," said James M. Wells III, SunTrust chairman and CEO, in a news release. "Given the increasingly uncertain economic outlook, we have concluded that further augmenting our capital at this point is a prudent step, especially if the current recession proves to be longer and more severe than previously expected."

...which explained ANOTHER $1.4Bn 'capital transaction' from the Treasury.

Are Mr. Wells and his staff a bunch of idiots, or what?

HT: Calculated Risk