Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Survey-What report did CNBC and Steve Liesman receive?

Erin Burnett was giddy as she brought in Steve Liesman noting "first time since 2006" at which Steve (mouthpiece for Bernanke and Geithner) Liesman shared Erin's giddyness however as the Senior Economics Reporter, he is contractually obligated to only dig for and present 1/2 truths. Imagine CNBC not presenting in in depth perspective...Judge for yourself. From grandpa's perspective, CNBC remains the Carnival News Broadcast Corporation.

Federal Reserve Press Release 5/3/2010
The April 2010 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices addressed changes in the supply of, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the past three months. The survey included three sets of special questions. The first set asked banks about lending policies regarding business credit card accounts for use by small firms. The second set queried banks about the use of loan extensions on commercial real estate loans. The last set asked banks about the effects on their lending standards and terms of the adoption of new accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. This summary is based on responses from 56 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks.

The April survey indicated that most banks kept their lending standards unchanged in the first quarter, but that moderate net fractions of banks further tightened many terms on loans to businesses and households. For almost all loan categories for which the survey indicated a further net tightening of credit standards, the fraction of banks that reported having done so edged down and in a few categories banks eased standards, on net. The survey also indicated that loan demand generally weakened further.

Most of the banks that reported having eased some lending policies in the April survey were large banks. A number of large domestic banks eased standards and some terms on commercial and industrial (C & I) loans to large and middle-market firms. Branches and agencies of foreign banks also reported easing standards and terms on C&I loans, on net. However, standards on C&I loans to small firms were roughly unchanged, and terms on such loans were tightened further over the past three months. Turning to lending to households, large bank respondents eased standards, on balance, for both prime residential mortgages and home equity lines of credit, while other banks tightened standards for both categories of lending. On net, large domestic banks accounted for an easing of standards on non-credit-card consumer loans. In contrast, modest net fractions of large and other domestic banks continued to tighten standards and terms on credit card loans over the past three months.

Domestic survey respondents indicated that demand weakened further for all loan types. A decline in demand for prime residential real estate loans was reported by a larger net fraction of domestic banks than in the January survey, but for other types of loans the net fractions of banks that reported weaker demand continued to wane. Indeed, branches and agencies of foreign banks reported an increase in demand for C&I loans, on net, over the past three months.

Questions on commercial real estate lending. A significant number of domestic banks, on balance, continued to report having tightened standards on CRE loans. However, this net fraction was considerably smaller than in the January survey. As in the previous survey, domestic banks reported weaker demand for CRE loans, on net.

Questions on consumer lending. On balance, domestic banks reported tightening their lending standards and terms for credit cards, but their lending stance toward other consumer loans eased. A small net fraction of banks reported having tightened standards for credit cards, and moderate fractions reported having reduced credit limits and increased spreads of interest rates charged on outstanding credit card balances. The further tightening of standards and terms on credit card loans, however, did not carry over into other consumer loans, as small net fractions of banks reported having eased standards and reduced spreads for such loans. Moreover, the net fraction of banks that reported an increased willingness to make consumer installment loans increased again. As in recent quarters, a moderate net fraction of respondents reported weaker demand for consumer loans of all types.
Link to complete Federal Reserve Release

Okay Steve, tell us about the report you received