[Vision2020] American West Bank vs. Wal-mart

Jeff Harkins jeffh at moscow.com
Mon Feb 13 11:49:56 PST 2006 

Mr. Ivie,

Thanks for your comments.  My observations about 
the American West situation were attributable 
solely to your initial remarks and the remarks by 
Ms. Mix - nothing more, nothing less.  The fact 
that we have different views on the matter simply 
reinforces the beauty of the free market 
system.  We can both play out our hunches in the 
market place through investing strategies - and 
the score keeping is done for us.

No, my comments were not directed at or about Ms. 
Swanson.  As she well knows, if I have something 
to say to her, I will say it directly to her. 
Further, I know that if Ms. Swanson has something 
to say, she will say it.  Innuendos are not needed.


At 11:13 AM 2/13/2006, you wrote:
>I would ask "why" do these local banks get 
>bought out?  I doubt that it is because they are 
>doing things wrong.  Wouldn't it be because they 
>are little fish and getting gobbled up by the 
>big fish?  They are being offered incredible 
>deals by the "big fish" and can't pass them 
>up.  I am sure that is why Gary Schell sold out 
>to American West.  Why would you purchase a 
>business that isn't doing that well?  I'll 
>answer that, bottom feeding.  Buy as low as you 
>can, turn it around, and then sell high or hang 
>onto it because now it has a good ROI.  But I 
>don't think that is the case with the banking 
>industry.  For one thing, all they would have to 
>do is move into the town that has an aweful bank 
>and put it out of business and that just doesn't 
>seem to happen.  Also, as far as wal-mart is 
>concerned, I don't think they go into a town and 
>purchase other retail businesses.  This is why I 
>disagree with comparing th! e banking industry 
>to Wal-mart and most every other big box chain 
>(apples to oranges).  I have to wonder if your 
>comments were directly related to Ms. 
>Swanson.  If that's the case, that would be 
>unfortunate.  Anyone who knows her knows that 
>she is a very nice person with good 
>intentions.  With her it is always the community first, her second.
>
>Jeff Harkins <jeffh at moscow.com> wrote:
>Mr. Ivie,
>
>Actually, the Latah Bank was a "true local bank",
>but as you point out, in these days they just
>can't compete with the "full service" regionals,
>nationals and international bank systems. We had
>our share of "local" banks - they are all gone -
>except say the Latah Federal Credit Union
>
>The banking business is a direct parallel to
>stores that sell basic consumer commodities -
>they just can't compete w! ith the larger
>institutions - the volume purchasing and squeezed
>margins preclude the survival of the small
>guy. But for consumers, of course, that is good
>news - it usually means more choice at lower
>cost. Just so we are on the same page, cash is
>one of the simpler commodity products - much
>simpler than tooth paste, shampoo and dog
>food. And the basic transactions are even
>simpler - the bank borrows at one rate and lends at a higher rate.
>
>You do raise an interesting point about one bank
>putting another bank out of business - if you
>know banking history, then you know that banks
>were predatory competitors before Andrew Jackson
>intervened. The central banking system and the
>mandatory reserve system were developed to make
>the capital system a bit more stable.
>
>As to banks expanding, I submit that banks do
>indeed enter a market area, and if successful
>will invest in new and larger buildings. Just
>visi! t a healthy urban area and look. That said,
>cyberbanking is reducing the need for large scale
>infrastructure (bricks and mortar)
>banks. Furthermore, our local economy is not
>robust and banks are not going to invest large
>amounts of capital in localities that do not have
>healthy local economies. My hunch is that when
>bankers get wind of an "anti-business" climate,
>they will reduce their investments in that area accordingly.
>
>The growth model in today's banking world seems
>more focused on providing convenient access for
>customers to banking services. The "vending
>machine" for a bank is rather simple - take money
>in, put money out. Growth is manifested by
>adding a branch in a mall, adding an ATM machine
>in a college eating area or a strip center and
>expanding hours of drive in banking.
>
>I find your comments about businesses opening and
>closing curious. Businesses come and businesses
>go. We have had lar! ge box retailers come and
>go. The buildings have not remained empty for very long.
>
>As to your personal financial situation, I don't
>know you or your financial standing, so it is not
>reasonable to ask me to advise you on where to
>"invest for the best return" (your words - find
>predatory pricing), but start with your credit
>score - that can provide you with an
>understanding of how much leverage the market
>will provide you. Then use the online
>information services to determine the market
>return for various investment vehicles. The
>choices today are stunning (thanks mostly to the
>removal of restrictions on banks) and the
>relatively unfettered movement of investment
>capital across international borders is reducing
>some of the uncertainty in capital markets.
>
>
>At 12:58 AM 2/13/2006, you wrote:
> >So, did you say all of that just to slip in that last
> >sentence? Or are you giving us some financial advice! ?
> > If the intent is financial advice, I would be curious
> >(as a past shareholder who bought low and sold what I
> >felt was high at the time) how FirstBank Northwest
> >compares. I really feel that you would be hard
> >pressed in this day of mergers and acquisitions to
> >find a true "local community bank". Possibly, the
> >difference could be how a bank treats it's "local"
> >customers. Could you explain to us (compare and
> >contrast) the two types of businesses (super center
> >vs. banking enterprise)? An observation of mine is
> >that although banks tend to merge with or be bought
> >out by other financial instutions, I have yet to see
> >one come into a town and years later build a bigger
> >bank and shut down the old one (never to use the
> >building again). Also, I don't think I have ever seen
> >one bank put another one out of business in a town.
> >Please, please tell me where I can get predatory
>&gt!
>;pricing on interest rates in order to gain my
> >business!
> >
> >--- Jeff Harkins wrote:
> >
> > > For those interested in knowing more about this
> > > "local community
> > > bank" - you might want to visit this link:
> > >
> > >
> >http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/own 
> ership/ownership.asp?Symbol=AWBC
> > >
> > > You might find it interesting to note that about 34
> > > % of the
> > > outstanding stock is held by large institutions.
> > > It does appear that their growth model (business
> > > model) is to acquire
> > > small "really local" banks.
> > > From what I can glean, it went public in 1995 or
> > > so, with 10
> > > "financial centers". It has grown to 40 financial
> > > centers in 10
> > > years. Below are two of the more recent
> > > acquisitions.
> > >
> > > AmericanWest Bancorporation Announces Agreement To
> > > Acquire Columbia
> > > Trust BancorpNovember 30, 2005
> > > AmericanWest Bancorporation and Columbia Trust
> > > Bancorp jointly
> > > announced that they have entered into a definitive
> > > agreement pursuant
> > > to which AmericanWest Bancorp will acquire Columbia
> > > Trust Bancorp,
> > > the holding company for Columbia Trust Bank, based
> > > in Pasco,
> > > Washington, in a transaction valued at $37.75
> > > million or $45.70 per
> > > Columbia Trust Bancorp share. Closing on this
> > > transaction is expected
> > > during the last half of the first quarter of 2006.
> > > Columbia Trust
> > > shareholders may elect to exchange each share held
> > > for cash or stock,
> > > although elections may be in the proration to
> > > achieve the targeted
> > > stock-cash split of 50%-50%. After complet! ion of the
> > > holding company
> > > merger, Columbia Trust Bank will be operated as a
> > > division of
> > > AmericanWest Bank until integration is completed, at
> > > which time it
> > > will be merged into AmericanWest Bank.
> > >
> > > AmericanWest Bancorporation Completes Merger with
> > > Latah
> > > BancorporationAugust 02, 2002
> > >
> > >
> > > AmericanWest Bancorporation announced the completion
> > > of its merger
> > > with Latah Bancorporation, Inc. of Latah,
> > > Washington. AmericanWest
> > > will pay $21.22 cash and .5192 of a share of its
> > > stock for each Latah
> > > Bancorporation, Inc. share.
> > >
> > >
> > > It is a business that seems to recognize that in
> > > order for the
> > > business to prosper, it must grow. And it has done
> > > some good growing
> > > the past dec! ade. It is rated as 7/10 on the Forbes
> > > index (a bit
> > > better than the average in its class), but it does
> > > not appear to be
> > > paying dividends at the present time.
> > > If your interests in the financial markets are
> > > focused on the
> > > Northwest, it does appear to have some appeal. It
> > > may be a good
> > > prospect for merger itself!
> > > However, be cautioned, it does have financial
> > > centers in a lot of
> > > towns with WalMart Supercenters, e.g., Spokane,
> > > Colville, Kennewick,
> > > Sunnyside, Moses Lake, Yakima and Ephrata - to name
> > > a few.
> > >
> > > Cheers. >
> >_____________________________________________________
> > > List services made available by First Step
> > > Internet,
> > > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> > >
> > > http://www.fsr.net
> > >
> > > mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> > >
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> >
> >
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