NCC - National City Corporation (NYSE)

Based on P/E ratio, the stock seems undervalued. The downsides seem limited at the $6.56 level.

please tell me you didn't put money into this turd? the only thing this company has that is worth anything is the shares of Visa that they own. (makes their calculated worth around 3.75 a share) they have been begging people to look at them to buy them out and no one wants to touch this mess. Their subprime exposer is very very high and that boat is already under water and heading to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. In short they are a almost worthless bank. JMO of course.

National City Capital Markets Advises Total Transportation Group in Its Acquisition of Wills Trucking
PR Newswire - April 24, 2008 4:10 PM ET

National City Capital Markets announced today that its Investment Banking Group served as exclusive buy-side advisor to Total Transportation Group ("Total Transportation"), a provider of specialized towing and heavy haul services as well as bulk, refrigerated, and dry van transportation services, in its acquisition of Wills Trucking, Inc., Wills Trucking Company, and Wills Trucking Services ("Wills").

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/...TIONALCITYLOGO )

Wills is a provider of municipal solid waste and dry bulk transport and brokerage services and primarily concentrates on a nine-state area consisting of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. A challenging and volatile industry environment combined with Wills' high degree of leverage resulted in the need for Wills to seek liquidity options. National City Capital Markets was aware that Wills was evaluating strategic alternatives and needed to identify and approach potential strategic acquirers. Given Wills fit with Total Transportation's acquisition strategy, the Investment Banking Group presented the opportunity to Total Transportation.

National City Capital Markets' Investment Banking Group drew upon its expertise within the transportation and logistics industry to advise Total Transportation in its efforts to acquire Wills. Through its relationship with Total Transportation and knowledge of its acquisition strategy, the Investment Banking Group was able to identify Wills as a compelling investment opportunity providing numerous synergies.

"Wills is a well-respected company with an established reputation and an attractive customer base. Wills represents a highly complimentary acquisition for Total Transportation," commented Craig Stacy, Owner & President of Total Transportation. "Total Transportation stands to benefit from the talented management team of Wills and together we can leverage combined bulk transportation resources, which provide significant opportunity to penetrate new and existing customers, and efficiently broaden our geographic footprint and services provided."

Additionally, National City Capital Markets provided valuation assistance in order to facilitate Total Transportation's evaluation of the Wills acquisition opportunity. After receiving Total Transportation's indication of interest, National City Capital Markets' Investment Banking Group worked with both Wills and Total Transportation to negotiate a successful acquisition transaction with terms that were favorable to all parties involved.

"This transaction will allow Total Transportation to significantly extend its breadth of services and build upon the Wills' excellent customer relationships in the municipal waste and bulk commodities segments," said Jonathan Ives, Director and Head of Transportation and Logistics Investment Banking for National City Capital Markets. "National City Capital Markets' Transportation and Logistics Group is committed to providing value-added solutions to companies in the trucking and logistics industry and it was a privilege to have had the opportunity to assist Total Transportation in growing its capabilities and achieving its business objectives in this transaction."

Cont...

Cont...

About Wills Trucking, Inc., Wills Trucking Company, and Wills Trucking Services

Wills is a provider of municipal solid waste and dry bulk goods transport as well as brokerage services. The company primarily concentrates on a nine- state area consisting of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. To learn more about Wills, visit their website at www.willstrucking.com.

About Total Transportation Group

Total Transportation Group is a provider of specialized towing and heavy haul services as well as bulk, refrigerated and dry van transportation services. Total Transportation has completed a number of strategic acquisitions in the last four years.

About National City Capital Markets

National City Capital Markets* provides strategic solutions including financial advisory, capital raising, capital commitment and risk management solutions to our corporate middle market and private equity clients. Backed by the resources of one of the nation's largest financial institutions, National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC), we are committed to building long-term relationships that help our clients address business challenges, maximize value and execute their strategic goals. For more information on Investment Banking at National City Capital Markets, visit the Web site at www.nationalcity.com/investmentbanking .

About National City

National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC), headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the nation's largest financial holding companies. The company operates through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its core businesses include commercial and retail banking, mortgage financing and servicing, and consumer finance and asset management. For more information about National City, visit the company's Web site at www.nationalcity.com .

* National City Capital Markets is a trade name under which corporate and investment banking services of National City Corporation and its subsidiaries, including NatCity Investments Inc. and National City Bank, are marketed. National City Capital Markets is not a legal entity. Securities products and services are provided by NatCity Investments, Inc., Member FINRA and SIPC, and its licensed securities representatives, who may also be employees of National City Bank. Banking products and services are offered by National City Bank.

SOURCE National City Corporation

http://www.nationalcity.com

SeekingAlpha.com

http://seekingalpha.com/article/7411...?source=etrade

Are Some Banks Too Small NOT To Fail?
posted on: April 25, 2008 | about stocks: CCRN / JPM / NCC / WM

“Too Big To Fail.” We saw it with Countrywide Financial (CCRN). We saw it with Bear Stearns (BSC). As the controversy expanded, there were more than a few smarties defending the need to save big financials because of the systemic danger their failure would inflict upon the world’s intertwined and complex financial structure.

Chairman Bernanke suggested he really didn’t want to do what he did with Bear Stearns….only did it because of stuff associated with the “too big to fail” phenomenon….and doesn’t ever want to do it again. Personally, I doubt that Bear Stearns will be the only test of “too big to fail” before this mess is all over.

When I went through the charts this past weekend, I was struck by how many regional banks and S&Ls suddenly looked weak after some attempts at recent stabilization since mid-March. It caused me to think heavily about the other side of “too big to fail.” If the government is committed to only bailing out banks that would cause systemic national and international distress, then there is an inevitable concept coming that I call “Too Small To NOT Fail.”

Okay, so National City (NCC) got about $1 billion of pseudo Private Equity money from JP Morgan Corsair. Washington Mutual (WM) got $7 billion from TPG et al. There are rumors about other PE firms circling the S&Ls and regionals looking for opportunities. But the reality is there are thousands of these small financial firms and I suspect many of them are in big trouble. Their reserves for losses are insufficient. They need capital and some will get it. But there is not enough capital to cover it all and some of these banks will just not be appealing enough for new investors to put up the money.

In the early stages of the failures that will likely result, there won’t be a government bailout entity like we had with the S&L crisis. Instead, there will be a tough-love stage where the banks will be allowed to fail. And then the politicos will start complaining why we could bail out the big guys on Wall Street at Bear Stearns (Too Big To Fail) and not the little guys on Main Street in small-town America (Too Small To NOT Fail). Eventually, as the banks that could not obtain new capital topple, it will be tough to avoid small bank runs, and then I expect that we will learn that even something small can lead to something big.

Smaller Banks Ripe for the Buying
09/02/08 - 06:59 AM EDT
>Debra Borchardt

Dragged down by the general malaise gripping the financial sector, some healthier regional banks are emerging as attractive acquisition targets.

Regional bank stocks have been pummeled along with the rest of the financial sector over the past year, as hedge funds short names across the board. As a result, the valuations of some extremely well-run banks have been pushed down to bargain basement prices, creating new interest among possible buyers.

"Between now and the end of the year, expect to see things happen," says Chris Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics, a firm that is evaluating several banks for potential acquirers. "The value is compelling, if you can afford to wait."

The KBW Regional Banking ETF (KRE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is down about 35% from its 52-week high, even though some of the banks in the index are in excellent shape. Sterling Bank (STL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) has limited exposure to residential mortgages and has paid dividends for 62 years. Then there's Webster Financial (WBS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which has tumbled 52% for the last 12 months. Both of these banks operate in the northeast and have been spared some of the pain that other regions have faced.

Whalen said he has signed on four new clients to value banks for them. His company takes information directly from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and applies various financial metrics in order to determine the health of a bank called the FDIC/IRA Bank Monitor.

Smaller regional banks have managed to capture a great deal of business as the larger nationwide banks have pulled back credit. The big banks have been distracted with losses from bad residential loans, risky collateralized debt obligations and legal pressure from state and federal authorities on sales of auction rate securities. Meanwhile, businesses continue to need capital and have turned to their local lenders for help.

The community banks are familiar with the businesses and are doing business with their friends and neighbors. As a result, loan quality tends to be better and these "good loans" form the backbone of any bank. It's what the bank depends on for income.

Despite the emerging opportunities seen by analysts, M&A activity in the sector has been slow amid the credit crisis. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ last month bought out the remaining 35% stake of UnionBanCal (UB - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) it didn't already own for $3.5 billion. Valley National Bancorp (VLY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) also bought Greater Community Bancorp in March.

In a note Thursday, Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Richard Bove speculated that BB&T (BBT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) CEO John Allison's plans to retire could make a deal with another regional like Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) more likely.

Private-equity players also have been kicking the tires of many regionals, but are hampered by regulatory requirements that allow only individuals or bank holding companies to control a bank. Thus, while private equity funds like TPG and Corsair Capital have invested in Washington Mutual (WM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and National City (NCC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), respectively, they can only buy minority stakes.

Anton Schutz, who manages two Burnham Financial Funds, says he believes more private equity funds will create bank holding subsidiaries to get around this restriction. He points out that the best areas for banks are in Texas and the northeast. The weak geographic regions, no surprise, are California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. But Schutz thinks there's hope for the troubled banks.

"Private equity is looking for broken names, especially the funds that want big returns," he says. "They want to fix these banks up and then sell them for a nice profit."

Schultz says the conservative money that is looking for the strong bank with the weak valuation will "pay off, just not very big."

Morgan Keegan Senior Bank Analyst Bob Patten in July told TheStreet.com that banks in poor housing markets like Florida could bounce back in a few years. But M&A would remain challenging until potential buyers were more comfortable with the credit market, he added.

" The simple fact is if you're having a hard time figuring out what your problems are on your own balance sheet, why would you want to buy somebody else's?" he asked.

11:49 NCC National City Treasurer says idea that FDIC might seize any part of the bank is "ridiculous" and "ludicrous" - Reuters (3.07 -1.92) -Update-

Says bank has more than sufficient capital to manage through whatever is in best interest of shareholders. Says has sufficient capital to manage credit losses under severe stress scenarios, does not need to do 'fire sales'

so this is the next to go under.

this is a money maker too!!!!!

but i dont think it will go down....

If the bill isn't passed before monday, this bank is next on the list. They probably have a week before they're under. Next in line is wachovia.

Starting to see the familiar death spiral, looks like a day or two before this one's dead

break that 2 and it's off to the races

GOOD BYE National City...... WOW Senate and congress kicking themselves right now.....

going to O

this is a GOLD mine ....no way will it be next......m/o
fear has traders leary....the have addequate equity and assets

hmmm..
got in at $1.60 monday...
up to $2.90 on wednesday..
90% profit so far.....
wait till tommmorow if the bill passes...she's gone...
till the shorts take over friday...
g/l

short ban extended

In @ 1.90 yesterday... added @ 3.00 end of today... let's go bailout!!

trying to get in on OCT $4 calls @ .35

GLTA

picked up the $4 calls yesterday,

NCC soaring in pre-market, up 26% so far.

GLTA