To: cubsfan who wrote (3671 ) 7/5/2008 8:10:24 AM From: RockyBalboa Respond to Here is a somewhat surprisingly bullish article about smallcaps, regional banks amongst them. Regional banks might be cheap but they aren´t safe, I think. Nobody knows what kind of skeletons are in regional banks, overall.small-cap indexes contain regional banks with little or no exposure to mortgage-backed securities and other risky investments. ?????? biz.yahoo.com Marshall & Ilsley expects a $900 million loss provision : $485 million in excess of expected 2008 second quarter charge- offs of up to $415 million.deterioration in the housing market, particularly in Arizona, on Florida's west coast and in selected relationships in our correspondent business, makes this the prudent action to take at this time. While we cannot predict whether or not we have reached the bottom of the current housing cycle, we do believe the actions we have announced adequately address the current exposure embedded in our housing-related construction and development portfolio ," said Mark F. Furlong, president and CEO, Marshall & Ilsley Corporation.
