On the wake of the Dow Jones' sixth triple digit loss in a row, State College's Nittany Bank held a town meeting to ease residents' concerns about the deteriorating financial market.

Bank president David Richards candidly addressed a variety of the customers financial concerns from the housing market to financial security. Richards assured customers their money was secure and insured within the bank through the FDIC, and said maintaining confidence in the banking system was "paramount" in the current state of the economy.

"Your money is safe in the bank," Richards said. "There aren't many definites left in the government ... but your money is safe and insured."

Thursday, a year to the date after the Dow closed at its record high, the Dow Jones dropped a record 679 points, losing more than $872 billion in investments in the longest "losing streak" since 2002, according to The Associated Press.

Richards partially blamed the financial crisis on "commissioned mortgage brokers" giving loans to those who they knew could not afford them simply to make a sale. However, he also stressed that increased coverage of the financial process in the media has caused pandemonium among citizens.

"It can drive you nuts if you look at it every day," Richards said. "Making laws in Washington is like making sausage. If you saw how it was made you would never want to eat it, but the end product tastes pretty good."

Richards continually attempted to subside customer fears about the FDIC and assured them of their protection under this government-backed agency. The FDIC fund is backed by $1.3 trillion funded by bank premiums, he said.

"If every bank in the country would fail the FDIC could not cover it," Richards said. "But it's also backed by government funding."

Richards delved into various ways in which customers' total funds could be protected, including the FDIC's raised insured rate of $250,000, which means any amount up to the insured rate is fully protected.

He also mentioned various titling and financial asset strategies that could better insure your money and economic future.

"There are ways to get yourself covered," he said.

Nittany Bank Vice President Penny T. Rhoades, who addressed every customer by their last name as they exited the meeting, stressed that the purpose of the meeting was to let the customers know they would be taken care of.

"We wanted to keep an open dialogue with the clients ... letting them know that we are there to answer any of their questions," she said. "Especially since it's so crazy these days ... we just want to make sure they know they mean a lot to us."

Bank customers like Lynne Sanders, of State College, were not completely confident in the financial situation but realized the importance of meetings such as these to maintain connections to the community.

"I don't know, because this is something none of us have ever lived through before," she said. "But people need to have confidence in their institutions for them to work. I sleep better at night knowing that if I have a question, I know exactly who to speak to."

Sanders also stressed the current financial crisis could not solely be blamed on one factor.

"I'm not a fan of the current administration, but we can't just point our fingers there," she said. "There are plenty of fingers to go around."