Subject: IC940729B: Interstate Banking, New Bank Fund IPO

From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 94 19:39:14 CDT

==================   IC940729B: Investment Club  ======================

1. Banks drawing takeover interest ................. Dan Dorfman 
                                                     (USA Today, July 29)
2. A close-ended Bank Fund to debut (IPO) .......... Gray Zhu
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

=============================================================
1. Banks drawing takeover interest  
               - Interstate-banking bill sets stage

USA Today, July 25, 1994. NEW YORK

Hey, let's play the name bride - the banking bride, that is. Or put simply
the next bank to be swallowed.

This ongoing Wall Street game is suddenly heating up big time after a
House-Senate conference committee earlier this week set the stage for
legislation to give banks the green light to open branches around the
country.

A bill OK'ing nationwide interestate banking should be voted on shortly. And
pros figure it's practically a sure thing.

What are the implications?

"You'll see a sharp flurry of merger-and-acquisition activity," says Thomas
Hanley of CS First Boston, Wall Street's top-rated banking analyst. "About
80% of the banks will consolidate over the next few years, and interstate
banking willl accelerate the M&A trend."

So his stratugy for bank-stock investing: "Play the potential takeover
targets, it's the best way to make money." On average, he sees acquired
banks throwing off 40% premium above their current prices.

...... (omitted)

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., there were 10957 banks
(excluding thrifts) at the end of last year, down from a peak of 14483 in
1984.

Ernesel figures interstate banking could lead to a 10% annual contraction in
the numbers of banks and thrifts the next seveal years.

..... (omitted)

======================================================================
2. A close-ended Bank Fund to debut (IPO) ........ Gray Zhu

I was told today, that John Hancock's is about to start a new bank fund:
Bank & Thrift Opportunity Fund. It will be managed by the same manager James
Schmit of John Hancock Freedom Regional Bank Fund (open-end, but no longer
selling to new investors) and Southeast Thrift & Bank (close-end).

This offer is apparently to take the full advantage of the bank further
consolidation as the result of the interstate banking bill.

The IPO will take place August 1. It will be traded on NYSE. Please note
that close-end funds trade as stocks, so don't ask John Hancock to purchase
the new fund. 

            Nice market rally today - sorry short sellers!
==========================================================================
                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past performance examples should  not be considered a guarantee of
    future   results.    Any  company mentioned   does    not constitute a
    recommendation by any body.
==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: [email-masked]
            (contact [email-masked] for more information)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: [email-masked], with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
  Post mail to:   [email-masked]
  Anonymous ftp:  at ifcss.org, in direcctory: /org/icnet
  Gopher:         /org/icnet on ifcss.org, /ifcss/org/icnet on cnd.org
  Managers:       Guang Hong, [email-masked]
                  Gray Zhu, [email-masked] (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~