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Strategies & Market Trends : John Pitera's Market Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Pitera who wrote (5242)	12/10/2001 2:33:28 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 33421

>>This is one of the dilemmas," says Riley. "But it's not an unusual circumstance at this juncture of an economic down cycle because banks are always reluctant to lend when credit standards are falling."<< In the wake of the corporate balance sheet frauds we've been seeing (ENE, LU, etc..) should we be concerned about bank loan portfolios weakening if non-performing loans increase? Will we be seeing more stories like this? biz.yahoo.com Monday December 10, 10:17 am Eastern Time Peoples Bancorp cuts EPS outlook on charge-offs NEWTON, N.C., Dec. 10 (Reuters) - Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NasdaqNM:PEBK - news) said on Monday it expects its fourth-quarter earnings to be below forecasts, because of a higher number of bad loans in the slack economy. The Newton, North Carolina-based bank said it expects to earn between $450,000 and $600,000, or 14 to 19 cents a share, in the quarter. Wall Street expected the bank to earn 35 cents a share in the quarter, compared with 43 cents a share a year ago, according to tracking service Thomson Financial/First Call. ``Declining economic conditions contributed to charge-offs on two large loans, requiring an increase in the provision for loan losses,'' Tony Wolfe, president and chief executive, said. The stock closed at $14.85 a share on Friday. Peoples said it expects to earn $4.55 million to $4.70 million for the year, or $1.41 to $1.46 a share. Analysts expected the bank to earn $1.47 a share, compared with $1.70 a share last year, according to First Call.