Everyone's got an opinion on the results of the stress tests that will be revealed in early May. You can add mortgage analysts at JPMorgan to those who think the capital needs might be intensifying such that more capital will be required. The analysts argue that banks will need to set aside about $215 billion more in reserves on $2.1 trillion of U.S. home loans that haven't been securitized, reports Bloomberg.

That burden will fall hardest on Citigroup and Bank of America, which have taken the least active steps to reserve against losses. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase ought to fare better, but who's to say that even they will not have to raise capital. Of course this will complicate the issue of TARP reimbursement. It would be a disaster if banks were allowed to pay back these funds, only to run into capital issues later in the year. So banks that look well-capitalized and well-reserved now may still face rough waters, if the economy doesn't recover.

For more:
- here's the Bloomberg article

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