Bloomberg weighs in with a look at "accretable yield," which will provide a $56 billion windfall to banks that cover ailing institutions. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America are among those that will benefit. They are "seizing on a four-year-old rule aimed at standardizing how they book acquired loans that have deteriorated in credit quality. By applying the measure to mortgages and commercial loans that lost value during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the banks will wring revenue from the wreckage." 

It works like this: FASB allows acquirers to book impaired loans at fair value. As borrowers pay their debts, however, banks are allowed to book profits. So to the extent that these loans are not written off and borrowers stick to their payments, the payoff to the bank will be profound. But we can't really assume the worst of the foreclosure bubble is over. But there is a new optimism in the air. 

For more:
- here's the Bloomberg article