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Microcap & Penny Stocks : SONM – Sonoma Financial Corporation (was VMAX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: EightyEight who wrote (139)	10/29/1999 5:51:00 PM
From: carromill	Respond to of 205

Medilll News Group?....Not very detailed, but should draw some local investing people to the "scene". I think todays cool trading was everybody watching (feeling-out) the company news release effects! Could you imagine them all thinking, simultaneously, of trying to buy at today's closing ASK,on monday opening/// except the ones on Instinet, of course.

To: EightyEight who wrote (139)	10/29/1999 8:07:00 PM
From: MonteChristo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 205

Thanks for the lead sir. For future reading, here's the article: Sonoma set to acquire Easy Money BY CARRIE GREENBERG Medill News Service Signaling the rapid growth of the payday loan industry, West Dundee-based Sonoma Financial Corp./VictorMaxx Technologies Inc., announced Thursday that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Virginia-based Easy Money Group. Terms of the merger of the two payday loan companies were not disclosed. Sonoma Financial, the Chicago area's largest payday advance operator, has expanded from two stores to 43 in the last 20 months, growing from 20 employees to 75 in that time. According to Sonoma Financial Chief Executive Officer Frank Anthony Contaldo the merger would create operations exceeding 150 stores in 18 states. Payday lending, the risky business of making short-term loans at very high interest rates, has become a billion-dollar industry, with annual interest rates often more than 30 percent of the loan. In 1998, Sonoma Financial and Easy Money had combined loans totaling more than $103 million. According to Contaldo, the acquisition of Easy Money is part of Sonoma Financial's strategy of corporate growth through mergers and acquisitions. "Easy Money has a history in this business and is an industry leader. Sonoma has new ideas and a management style that will benefit us both," said Contaldo, whose company's stock is traded on Nasdaq'S Bulletin Board. The payday loan industry has drawn criticism from consumer advocacy groups for excessive interest rates, with some calling it "legal loansharking." Although several states have passed legislation capping annual interest rates, Illinois does not currently have usury restrictions. Nineteen states currently prohibit payday loans. Customers, often with bad credit history or debt, write personal checks for the amount of the loan, plus the loan fee, sometimes 15 percent of the check value. The loan company holds the check until the customer's next payday, then cashes the check. If the customer cannot cover the check, interest starts to accrue. "The payday loan industry has truly done the most pure kind of marketing," said Kate Williams, president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Chicago. Tempted by quick and convenient loans, "customers sometimes commit one paycheck to several different places and really overextend themselves." However, both the loan companies and consumer groups say that most people are informed about the risks and the repay committment of payday loans. "The public demand for this loan product is out there," Contaldo said.