* Delay would avoid 1st quarter results period
* Source: Treasury still mulling stress test disclosure (Adds details on stress tests, byline)
By Karey Wutkowski
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department is planning to delay the release of any completed bank stress test results until after the first-quarter earnings season to avoid complicating stock market reaction, a source familiar with Treasury's discussions said on Tuesday.
The Treasury is still talking about how results of the regulatory stress tests on the 19 largest U.S. banks will be released, and may disclose them as summary results that are not institution-specific, the source said.
The government is testing how the largest banks would fare under more adverse economic conditions than are expected in an attempt to assess the firms' capital needs. The tests are due to be completed by the end of April, but Treasury has said they may be finished before then.
The source, speaking anonymously because the Treasury has not made a final decision on what to disclose, said officials do not want any test results released before the earnings season wraps up for most U.S. banks on April 24.
Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
LinkHuh? Isn't refusing to release these results because of worry about the harm they may do going to cause harm, anyway? This makes me think they contain bad news about the health of the banks involved, well what if I think the news is worse than it really is?
I can only imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if Bush had done this.
