FINANCIAL stocks have more than doubled from their March 2009 lows. And with autumn  generally a rocky season for the markets  fast approaching, it’s a good time for a reality check on the banking sector. The goal: to determine whether fundamentals in the industry support the rocket-fueled surge in bank shares.

To be sure, the stock market and smart money often try to anticipate recoveries long before they are evident in the numbers. But a “relief rally”  that is, the exuberance that accompanied the fact that our economy appears to have avoided another Great Depression  won’t have the same staying power as a move based on solidly improving operations. So understanding what’s going on in banks’ financial statements is worthwhile.

With that in mind, Christopher Whalen, managing director at Institutional Risk Analytics, a research firm, has analyzed financial data from the second quarter of this year that almost 7,000 banks submitted to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The data includes 90 percent of institutions with federally insured deposits but excludes reports from the 19 money-center banks like Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Those reports are filed later to the F.D.I.C.

Even with the big guys missing from the analysis, it is an illuminating look at the health of regional and community banks and a fairly comprehensive assessment of the industry’s well-being.