Now, for my own musings and newbie recap;
we are not concerned (yet) with big bank competing online systems as they are unable to compete with USAB on rates as then they'd have to offer them to their regular brick and mortor customers, and they can't afford to do that with their huge overhead. Many other concerns will announce their intentions to get into online banking, all the while USAB is grabbing as much market and mindshare as they can with their dynamic marketing campaigns. While it's certainly reasonable to assume that just as the market may be over saturated with online brokerage concerns, that is not the case with online banking (yet). I think the biggest hurdle online banking will have is the same as online brokerages. Trust and Reliability. That's why USAB's marketing is key. While it may keep USAB from being profitable for a year, it is essential to educate and convert the 90% of the growing online community to online banking services. Did you notice how many large expensive brokerages are going online just to keep their customers who want to daytrade from pulling their main equity accounts? The same may happen with Large Banks. They won't really be able to compete on equal footing, yet they will have to get a presense in order to keep their existing customers. This quandary will give concerns like USAB plenty of time to capture market share. Remember how the Banks ganged up on MicroSoft when they were going to buy Quicken as a key to entering the online banking market? Obviously Banks know this is a very lucrative field, or worse, fear it will spoil their business in which they can't compete. In addition, the trend of more and cheaper computers will only continue to fuel the potential for more USAB customers, especially as we enter the back to school and Xmas season. Unless the PPI is a surprise upset tomorrow morning, we should enjoy a very prosperous afternoon. Fense sitters, this is your very last chance for the event trade. And while I don't blame you for selling next week, I would recommend holding thru the shareholders meeting as we may learn lots of new things worth holding for, and who knows, after Greenspans done raising interest rates on the 24th, we may get to enjoy a broad based relief rally that should help us even further. Remember, any good hype USAB continues to generate after the launch will only serve to squeeze the shorts further, and with USAB's small float, that will work in any longs favor.
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