Banks are begging for money. You can see why... After giving out loans backed by nothing but air, the entire financial industry is set to report the weakest earnings growth of any sector at -73% for the year.

Banks are even going out of country to raise money. Case in point: The Kuwait Investment Authority, who already pumped billions into Citigroup (C:NYSE) earlier this year, just hosted a new meeting with Citi's top honchos. The shame-faced execs flew out to the Middle East to beg for more dough.

Brad Evans of Heartland Advisors Inc. says it well: "The window for capital-raising is closing. Investing in a bank right now means investing in a large portfolio of loans that are essentially a black box."

Back in March, Ben Bernanke pushed banks to aggressively raise as much cash as possible. Cash cushions are needed in bulk to cover heavy losses and fill holes in the balance sheet.

Just about every bank is flailing right now, trying to raise money and convince shareholders that their stock is still worth a gamble... every bank, that is, except the Last Honest Bank in America.

The Last Honest Bank in America

While other banks are coughing up bad loans like giant hairballs, the last honest bank in America is riding high. It already enjoys 30% ownership by the next mini-Berkshire Hathaway.

Why do I call this company the last honest bank? Well, its refusal to put large amounts of cash into undefined assets paints the picture perfectly:

The company I consider the last honest bank in America has put investors' money to work in safe, smart opportunities, not fly-by-night loans that only made sense in a bubble. Its shareholder equity is 460% more than write-down assets. As comparison, a bank like Morgan Stanley has 139% more in Level 3 assets than shareholder value.

The dishonesty on Wall Street is staggering. The major financial institutions lost their respect and direction... while the last honest bank kept its dignity.

Draining Money in All the Wrong Places

It's no secret that major U.S. banks had more junk assets on their books than shareholder equity. These assets, known as "Level 3 assets," got them into a lot of trouble.

Let me break it down for you...

Level 1 assets and Level 2 assets include actively traded equities like stocks and bonds. Quoted prices are available regularly for these assets.

Level 3 assets, where the major banks have huge amounts of risk, are speculative assets that were backed by subprime and other rotten credit instruments. Their value is based on guesswork.

Level 3 assets were a body blow to most Wall Street banks. For Bear Stearns, they were a death blow.

In fact, the Fed just admitted that it helped Bear Stearns to prevent the financial crisis from snowballing. The words from the horse's mouth are that an "immediate failure" of Bear Stearns would have caused an "expected contagion."

Rather than the dust settling, now it seems like it's only getting worse.

Blatant Market Manipulation

What do I mean? For starters, two ex-Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were indicted for fraud a few weeks ago. They admitted to each other over e-mail that everything was going to hell in a handbasket, but then turned around and told shareholders that everything was fine.

Matthew Tannin, Ralph Cioffi's COO told him over e-mail that the subprime market looked terrible and that they should close their fund. They even e-mailed each other, talking about how they weren't hedged against market volatility... but told shareholders that they were able to hedge successfully.

While Tannin and Cioffi claim to be innocent and expect to be cleared of the charges, the e-mails still condemn them.

The dishonesty in the banking sector took me on a manhunt for at least one bank that cared about its reputation and its investors' money. And I found it in this company... from day one, the Last Honest Bank in America told investors the truth, while other banks were peddling nothing but lies and junk.

What You Need to Know

Readers of Safe Haven Investor are poised to make money from this little-known banking stock -- one of the best contrarians play on the market today -- and you can, too.

In the time it's taken banks to lose at least 50% of their share value, this stock has run essentially flat... and even rallied a few times!

Here are the hard facts:

• This bank is propped up by a new mini-Berkshire Hathaway, led by a savvy duo that buys companies in distressed industries.

• The bank has minimal exposure to dangerous Level 3 assets, while its competitors are loaded to the gills.

• The bank also has an extra shot of safety for investors, with strong liquidity and strong shareholder equity. It pays out a dividend yield of 2.89%.

• This bank also caters to small and growing companies. The big banks aren't going to be putting their money into the opportunities of tomorrow when they're too busy saving their own hides.

• And here's the kicker: The Last Honest Bank of America is still expected to grow 12.67% annually over the next five years. That's more than the most hopeful sector expectations of 9.96%.

The time to buy this $18 stock is now. The world's savviest value investors have been throwing money into it for the last few months, knowing it's the last bank standing.

Safe Haven Investor readers already know about this stock. But it's not too late to get in today.

My secret hasn't found its way to other Wall Street analysts... yet. But it will soon. And when they find out, you won't get a chance to buy the Last Honest Bank anywhere near its current price.

Ann Sosnowski
Editor, Safe Haven Investor