PacWest stock plummeted as investors remain worried about the financial sector, a decline which occurred despite Federal Reserve officials assuring market actors hours earlier that the banking system is “sound and resilient.”

First Republic Bank imploded on Monday, weeks after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank similarly collapsed, as account holders with balances above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation threshold at the three medium-sized banks rushed to withdraw their funds. PacWest was among several other regional banks to see stock prices sharply decline earlier this week amid news of the First Republic Bank failure and subsequent sale to JPMorgan Chase.

Shares for PacWest, which is based in Beverly Hills, California, and also serves clients in Arizona, Utah, and Texas, declined more than 45% between market close on Wednesday and early morning trading on Thursday. The firm has seen stock prices decrease more than 67% over the past five days and nearly 87% since the banking crisis started two months ago.

Several reports indicated that PacWest would consider strategic options such as a sale or capital raise; the company confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that multiple “potential partners and investors” have approached executives.

“The company will continue to evaluate all options to maximize shareholder value,” the statement from PacWest noted. “The bank has not experienced out-of-the-ordinary deposit flows following the sale of First Republic Bank and other news.”

The decline in PacWest shares came hours after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell insisted at a press conference that the banking system is “sound and resilient” even after the tumult in early March and the collapse on Monday. “We are committed to learning the right lessons from this episode and will work to prevent events like these from happening again,” he said.

Federal Reserve officials announced a quarter-point target federal funds rate hike on Wednesday afternoon, a tactic which is meant to combat inflationary pressures but often results in constrained economic activity as the cost to borrow funds increases for consumers and businesses. Interest rate hikes contributed to the substantial loss incurred by Silicon Valley Bank as executives liquidated a long-term bond portfolio to cover withdrawals. Assets in the banking system are now $2 trillion lower than their book value as a result of the recent Federal Reserve efforts, according to a study from analysts at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

PacWest saw deposits fall 17% between the end of December and the end of March, from $34 billion to $28 billion, according to a first quarter earnings report from the company. Other regional banks, such as Western Alliance, saw similar declines.

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Monetary policymakers concluded that the instability in the financial system warrants a recession forecast for the end of the year, followed by a predicted recovery over the course of the subsequent two years. “If banking and financial conditions and their effects on macroeconomic conditions were to deteriorate more than assumed in the baseline, then the risks around the baseline would be skewed to the downside for both economic activity and inflation, particularly because historical recessions related to financial market problems tend to be more severe and persistent than average recessions,” minutes from a recent Federal Reserve meeting said.

“The View” host Whoopi Goldberg is co-writing a comic book about a grandmother superhero whose powers are activated by menopause.

The 67-year-old celebrity is co-writing the book for Dark Horse Comics along with Jaime Paglia, who worked on The CW series “The Flash” and Sci-Fi Channel’s “Eureka.” 

“The Change” follows a woman named Isabel Frost who feels stuck in a rut and unhappy with the direction of her life. She has friends, a relationship, and a grandson who loves video games, but she also feels bored with the “stagnant” routine of everyday life. Then, she reaches the age of menopause, which spurs her superhero powers to activate.

Whoopi Goldberg's debut graphic novel, The Change, arrives this November! Learn more about the new superhero story, co-written by @jaimepaglia, at@screenrant :https://t.co/PbtvKjL7EC

— Dark Horse Comics (@DarkHorseComics) May 2, 2023

Screen Rant offered a first look at the new project, which included images of the character wearing a long black leather coat and holding a blue and purple flame. The menopausal superhero Isabel Frost bears a striking resemblance to Goldberg.

“The Change” has a scheduled release date of November 28.

This isn’t Goldberg’s first foray into writing, but it will be her first time experimenting with the world of graphic novels. The “Sister Act” star has written multiple titles including children’s books such as “Sugar Plum Ballerinas” and “Whoopi’s Big Book of Manners.”

The “View” host has openly discussed her experience with menopause before, joking during a standup about the lack of treatments to help with hot flashes. 

Goldberg has been sharing controversial opinions for years on “The View,” including her recent comments about how children having transgender surgeries is supported by the Bible.

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“My God, this is a party that says we believe in parents’ rights,” Goldberg exclaimed during a recent episode, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “You’re telling me that as a parent, I don’t — I’m not smart enough to decide if my child and I need to have gender-affirming — or doctors are not involved.”

“So what is — I can’t decide what my kid reads, I can’t decide for my child, what my child says is going on,” Goldberg said. “You’re telling me your beliefs — you’re — and they keep saying it, and I keep saying, ‘What Bible are you reading? Because God was really clear!’”