Oops. Buy gold?

Regulators closed six banks in three states Friday, bringing this year’s total number of bank failures to 96.

All six failed institutions were included in TheStreet’s Bank Watch List of undercapitalized banks and thrifts, based on first-quarter regulatory data provided by SNL Financial.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver and found buyers for all of the failed banks, agreeing to absorb 80% of losses on the riskier asset pools acquired by other institutions. Despite numerous reports that the agency is getting tightfisted and that attractive deals for failed banks are on the wane, six 80/20 loss-sharing deals in one night show that lucrative opportunities remain for stronger banks and private-equity investors.