Beldames’ Saloon

You must however, be able to satisfy the minikrediet provider that you will have enough cash available to cover the advance repayment they will look at how much you can afford to pay back on an individual basis between 354 euro. A gsm minikrediet is a way to solve a short-term cash issue for amounts like 265 euro.

A lot of us count down the weeks until payday? For many it simply can’t arrive soon enough as we attempt to juggle bills and expenses, as well as trying to have a little fun in life. The charge you need to observe is how much you pay back on the amount you borrow - this is a fixed sum dependent on the individual provider. It’s easy to compare online minikrediet with us and hopefully you’ll soon have the cash you need to get by without worrying how far away your next payday may be.

If you apply for an payday loan for 211 euro you will usually have to fill out an online form and attach copies of your documentation in an email, or by fax.

However, for lengthier journeys you are better to use a method of transport that specialises in long distances such as a train or plane, dutch minikrediet are certainly a short-term special. Unexpected money problems can hit even those who keep a tight grip on their finances if something goes wrong in the home, a family member needs support or you receive a larger than expected bill you might require cash to help you get by until your next wage slip.

Be sure to use the fast minikrediet comparison tool at dutch minikrediet to compare rates. However, it is not necessary to use the loan for this purpose and effectively the cash can be used at your discretion as long as it is paid back with interest during the short loan term. However, this does vary with some providers charging 29 interest and so on. As with all 10 minute minikrediet it is best to take a complete search of the market before you apply for a 10 minute minikrediet for aount 427 euro so you can compare interest rates and make sure you are getting the best deal for your needs. The premise behind gsm minikrediet is simple whatever you need 478 euro for, you can take out a loan (usually ranging from 58 euro but sometimes up to 1,000 depending on the provider) that is repayable on your next payday, whether it is 10 minutes away or less.

In the majority of instances for every 205 euro you borrow you have to pay back 195 euro, meaning 16 interest. This is where a minikrediet comes in, offering a suitable sum of money to help you get by.

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After you scraped together a modest deposit for your new home you may think you’re home and dry. Think again. On top of there’s the surveyors and solicitors to pay. Then the government want a slice. You’ve got to pay stamp duty at 1% of the property’s price (if the house costs more than £250,000 the rate of stamp duty increases - see the information at the foot of this article). Phew! You’re lucky you’ll just make it - you’ll be a homeowner at last!

Then out of the blue the mortgage lender sends you a new bill - another £1,500 please Sir. They’ve called it a Higher lending Charge (HLC) and it’s charged if you borrow more than 90% of the value of the house. About 75% of all mortgage lenders charge it and £1,500 is about the average they ask for.

And guess what - they money you pay won’t benefit you in any way whatsoever! Not one jot. You’re being charged for a form of protection insurance that protects the mortgage lender, not you. The HLC pays the lender if you default on your mortgage, your property has to be repossessed and the sale proceeds are less than the outstanding balance on your mortgage. In theory the HLC then pays out the shortfall to the lender but in practice many lenders carry the risk themselves so the HLC is just an extra fee to offset a higher lending risk.

But an HLC doesn’t let you off the hook! If your home is repossessed and there’s a shortfall, you still have to pay the shortfall back to your lender - they’re sure to chase you for the money.

Whilst most of the lenders who charge HLC’s will readily agree to add the charge to your mortgage, that’s little consolation. In any case this means that you’ll end up paying interest on top of the charge. Then, over a 25-year term, your HLC will have cost you closer to £2,700!

In our opinion HLC’s should have died out with the dinosaurs. If a lender is worried you’ll default, they shouldn’t have lent the money in the first place. And with all today’s hi-tec credit checks and the risk based assessments used to process your application, you’d think the lenders were doing enough to protect themselves. In any case you may also end up paying a small interest premium for a 90% plus mortgage - so in practice you’re being charged twice for the same risk!

The Nationwide Building Society, who incidentally do not charge HLC’s, recently reported that during the last five years £1 billion has been charged in HLC’s by some 800,000 borrowers. It also found that just over 500,000 were first time buyers - largely youngsters struggling to buy a home. We believe that HLC’s are just another money making ploy for the mortgage lenders. By the way, the Higher Lending Charge used to be called a Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee, but they are all the same - only the name is different!

We think it’s time for the Office of Fair Trading to open up the box and take a look inside in the same way as they did with credit cards. The OFT recently ordered many credit cards to reduce their charges by up to 40%. A bit of that magic would do wonders for Higher Lending Charges!

Current Stamp Duty rates on house purchases in the UK

Houses under £125,000 No Stamp Duty

Houses £125,000 to £249,995* 1%
Houses £250,000 to £499,995* 3%
Houses over £500,000 4%

*HM Inland Revenue rounds up house prices to the nearest £5. Therefore, a house sold for between £249,996 and £249,999 will be rounded up to £250,000 and they’ll charge you 3% Stamp Duty on the lot!
Information correct as from the April Budget 2006.

Michael Challiner is the exclusive finance editor writing for Brokers Online who offer their clients online access to the best mortgage rates and cheap life insurance.

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Deciding when and how to bathe your dog is often difficult. This is because your dogs bathing frequency depends on a list of factors: your dogs breed, how much time they spend outdoors, your dog’s age, as well as any existing medical conditions, just to name a few.

Simply, when and how you bathe your dog will change throughout the year as well as throughout the dog’s life. Below is a list of reasons that your dog may need a bath, as well as some pointers to help you along the way:

1. Your dog encountered something and smells.
This is the #1 reason that your dog is bathed. If your pal is like ours and has a way of finding something smelly to roll in, then he’ll need a bath right away. Use a good shampoo like Bio Groom ® and don’t be afraid to wash him twice if needed.

2. Your dog has a “doggy smell”.
Odor on your dogs coat can often be traced to a problem with their ears, mouth, feet, or anal glands. An odor coming from the skin is often a sign of disease, such as a yeast infection. Any dog with more than a “doggy smell” should be checked by your veterinarian. For dogs with a simple doggy odor, choose a general shampoo, such as Tomlyn Shampoos.

3. Your dog has dandruff.
Dandruff can be caused by dry, irritated, or oily skin, however all of these conditions can be helped by selecting an appropriate shampoo as well as good bathing habits. Be sure to check with your veterinarian or groomer to determine the cause of your dog’s skin condition. For general treatment try using Kelco Filthy Animal Shampoo.

4. Your dog has allergies.
Bathing your pooch with itchy skin from allergies can be soothing and also help reduce itching. In many cases, a soothing oatmeal shampoo or a gentle hypo-allergenic can be used.

5. Your dog has fleas, mites, or lice.
Shampooing is one of the best ways to rid your dog of external parasites. Work with your veterinarian to get the appropriate diagnosis, as well as treatment options. You could try Bio-Grooms Flea & Tick Shampoo. All Bio-Groom products are tearless, and with the formulas Protein and Lanolin it’s safe to use on most dogs when you fear they may be infested.
Once you determine shampoo you will need - for instance, if your dog always gets an unpleasant “doggy smell” a few weeks after bathing - then choose an appropriate shampoo and have it on hand for when you need it.

Additional tips to remember when bathing your dog…

• Always use a shampoo formulated for dogs. Human shampoos are often harsher than pet shampoos, which can do more damage than good if you use human shampoo on pets.

• Start bathing when a dog is young so bath time will be easier throughout the life of your dog.

• Regular brushing is one of the best ways to take care of your dog’s skin and coat. Consult your veterinarian or breeder to determine the appropriate grooming cycle for your dog. Remember brushing and removing mats should always be done before bathing.

• Fatty acid supplements used in addition to your pet’s good diet will help maintain a healthy coat and skin. For the best coats, we recommend daily brushing, regular baths, and supplementation with a fatty acid supplement like Linatone Plus for Dogs or Lipiderm Tablets.

Every dog needs to be bathed. With the advice of your veterinarian or groomer and these helpful hints, you can be sure that your dog looks, feels, and most importantly smells great. Something your whole family will appreciate!

Mike Steele

http://www.dog.com

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Recently one of my students asked a great question: We have a product we want to sell online - and we need to make money fast. We already have a domain name. What should I do in the next 10 days?

Here are some ideas:

1. Take *good* photographs of your product. The picture will allow you to charge more, so get a great digital camera and take those pictures.

2. Write a good short sales letter that paints the story of the product - your reason behind creating it, benefits to the reader, vivid pictures of what it will mean to the buyer, etc.

3. Set up a paypal account and arrange to take payment.

4. Start lining up partners who will do an email for you. Find people who already send an email newsletter to your potential customer.

5. Plan to send sample products to the partners you want to work with. That will get their attention and you can seal the deal via email.

6. Set up your site on a template-driven site. It’s something you can do yourself with no programming knowledge. You can choose a templates so you have no design costs. It generally includes hosting, so you have no additional hosting costs. You can upload your own photos.

7. You’ll need a technical person on call in order to connect your web page and paypal - or at least someone who has a little backgroud in doing this. It’s faster than doing it yourself.

8. Use this site for just this one project. Don’t try to do too many things with it.

9. Look around for other sites with similiar ideas - selling the same type of product. Then handle yours approximately the same way.

10. Prepare an email for your partners to send to their lists and get it to them a few days before their newsletter goes out. That means you need to get this ready now!

That’s a quick 10-day plan. Get started right away and plan to start seeing sales in a little over a week.

Dr. Jeanette Cates is an Internet strategist who works with experts who are ready to turn their knowledge and their websites into Gold. Her reputation as a speaker and trainer has earned her the title of The Technology Tamer. Jeanette shares her news and views in OnlineSuccessNews.com

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Financing a new mortgage? Beware of “predatory lenders.”

In November 2005, Montgomery County, Maryland’s county council enacted legislation to expand the categories of discriminatory lending activities associated with discriminatory housing practices and increased the maximum fine for such activities from $5,000 to $500,000. The council sited practices such as charging inordinate amounts for prepayment penalties, points, and fees; steering borrowers toward more expensive mortgages; and refinancing existing mortgages with new ones that borrowers won’t be able to repay based on their income or credit.

Predatory lenders typically target what’s known as the nonprime mortgage market, where people with blemished credit records try to borrow money for homes in less desirable neighborhoods, which means that it’s often minority groups, such as African-Americans and Latinos, who are the victims of predatory lending practices.

However, February 2006, the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), challenged the ruling, contending that only the state has the power to enact legislation regarding mortgage lending practices–although the AFSA went on record as opposing discriminatory and abusive lending practices. The new law was supposed to take effect the second week in March, but mortgage lender lawyers persuaded a judge to delay the new law, pending a hearing. So it’s yet to be determined if the Montgomery County law will remain on the books.

Regardless of the outcome in Montgomery County, however, predatory lending practices are illegal in most states. The Center for Responsible Lending describes a number of such practices on their website. Some of them include loan flipping, in which the borrower is forced to refinance a loan, sometimes several times, solely for the purpose of generating new fees for the lending institution. Another common practice is insisting that borrowers also purchase such things as credit life insurance or other products–again, primarily designed to generate more income for the lender.

The bottom line is that there are lending institutions that make a great deal of money by charging extra fees to those borrowers who can least afford them, thereby either depriving those borrowers of the American dream of home ownership or, worse yet, setting them up for eventual foreclosure.

As the real estate market slows down and interest rates creep up, it’s more important than ever to become a knowledgeable consumer. Learn the basics of mortgage lending, so you’ll know when you’re being charged too much for a loan or for things you don’t need. Shop around to see what’s available, and then make sure you’re comfortable with your loan payment, because you’ll be paying that amount for many years.

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

Jeanette Fisher teaches the five mortgage requirements beyond credit scores. Credit Articles worryfreecredit.com/articles.htm FREE Credit Help ebook Free Credit Advice

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A crucial point to be borne in mind by students is this: student loans cannot be eliminated under any circumstances. Student loans are not grants; they are just financial assistances to cover education costs and they have to be repaid under any circumstances once the education is over. Even filing for bankruptcy does not work in this case. It is just too long a process to be worth the effort.

After graduation, students have about a six-month grace period before they start repaying their loans. This is the period to think about how to repay the loans and which debt management program to implement. Students must ideally take up a job immediately after their educations so that they have a proper headway when the grace period comes to an end and the loan repayment begins.

The most that a student can do towards debt elimination is to enroll in some voluntary work, such as those at AmeriCorps or PeaceCorps. They may also enroll in the armed forces or serve as assistant doctors (if they are students of medicine) or teachers or some other socially relevant job. However, a true economist would not call this as complete loan elimination as the student has to put in some years of work. These years, if worked elsewhere, could have been more monetarily productive. Hence, these loan forgiveness methods cannot be branded as loan elimination.

Wise management of loans is also a method to ease the burden of loans. Students can consolidate all the loans taken during their education into a single bulk and start repaying them at a single interest rate. This process also locks the interest at the current rate. Yet, the student still has to make repayment. The benefit is of having to deal with a single creditor rather than several.

Filing for bankruptcy is a very tedious process. Students are given bankruptcy status only if it is well proven that the student will not have even a decent standard of living were the loan repayment to continue. Students who meet with accidents and become physically redundant in some or the other way can be given bankruptcy status and their loans may be eliminated. However, for a regular student to shirk repaying loans by filing for bankruptcy is just wishful thinking.

There are several sites online that claim they can eliminate student loans. But students must be intelligent enough to read the fine print. Within those lines it is explained, though not clearly, that loans cannot be eliminated. There are, of course, negotiations that an agency can hold with the creditors on behalf of the students to get the interest rates reduced. But this is actually a worthless exercise as the student has to build up an escrow account even before the negotiations may begin. Also, there are the payments to the intermediary agency that have to be done by the student. Thus, a student must abandon hopes of getting loans totally eliminated out of the blue and begin preparing strategies to repay them as soon as possible.

Student Loan Debt provides detailed information about student loan debt, student loan debt consolidation and more. Student Loan Debt is affiliated with Debt Consolidation Loan Online.

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Parents have the full responsibility for their children and their education. It is up to parents to teach their children what’s right and what’s wrong, how to conduct themselves as good citizens, how to cross the road safely and generally protect themselves from harm. In fact, up until the time that child is an adult, the parents have responsibilities in every part of that child’s life, right up until the time they are a college student.

The influence of the parents, however, goes way beyond college student days. Whether they like it or not, or even admit it, everyone is influenced not only by the way their parents have treated them, but also by the behavioural patterns of the parents. That influence can be good, bad or neutral, but it is there, and it affects many aspects of daily lives. One of the main features of daily life is finance: money, debt, borrowing, lending, spending, and credit cards all fall within that sphere.

It follows that parents can have an influence on their children’s attitude to credit cards and credit card debt. As a good teacher, mentor and financial adviser, the parent can help to create a positive financial attitude in their children that will help them through their college student days, and eliminate or prevent credit card debt from their future lives.

What Can A Parent Do To Help Their Student Children Prevent Debt?

Parents are not the only influence on their children. They and their children face a barrage of marketing for credit cards that has reached brainwashing proportions. Easy credit pervades society like a highly contagious virus; it is difficult enough for the parents not to succumb to the debt that follows easy credit, let alone their student children. And if the parents succumb, what chance do the children have?

Well, all is not entirely lost. All parents know, or should know, that trying to force feed attitudes and habits on their maturing children is likely to backfire. Many children are rebellious, and will often be inclined to go against the parents wishes or advice. That would apply as much to teaching how to manage their finances as anything else.

However, if you accept that you cannot just force something on your children, you can bring them up in an environment that may, through their own observation, make the children think twice about running up credit card debts as a student, and later still in their lives. Here are just a few ideas:

1. Get the children into the saving habit from a young age, but do it in a way that let’s them see the benefits. Start a savings account for them even as a one year old, and as they get a bit older, just explain to them what it is and why. No harsh lectures, just a simple explanation that you are helping them to save money for something they will appreciate later. But not too much into the future; saying they will not be able to touch it until they are 25 will not help.

The savings theme can be on two levels. Part of the savings could be long term, but part also for something the child will be able to buy within a year. That way, the child has the anticipation of a benefit within a reasonable time; the balance of the savings can go on to accumulate. Ensure you have a savings account that will pay interest on all money in the account, so that when the first and subsequent interest payments are posted to the account, you can show the child that they have this “bonus” in their account. Explain it is the bank paying them money for leaving their savings in the account.

It is important for the child to feel that it is their money that is being saved, so explain it is part of their pocket money being put away. Also encourage them, but not force them, to sometimes put birthday or other gift money in the account too. Over the years, this will, hopefully, become a habit that is a useful contra to the debt culture. They will get used to the bank paying them, so when it comes to considering credit cards later, they may be more likely to question the large interest charges the bank makes for using the credit cards.

2. Encourage children to earn a bit of extra pocket money by doing little jobs around the house or in the garden. Say this will help them save for whatever it is they want to save for. Car washing, mowing the lawn when old enough, vacuuming; whatever needs to be done, ask if they would like to do the jobs for the extra money. Then, when paid, encourage them, but do not force them, to save at least part of the earnings. Again, this could become a habit that will stand them in good stead later on, and they will tend to consider the working route to extra money rather than expensive borrowing.

3. When they start doing more advanced maths, say at 9 or 10 years old, help them do a little budget plan for their savings. That will be a simple but quite mature approach for them.

4. The most difficult of all is to set a good example, but do not make a big fuss about it. Mention casually once in a while, for example when there’s a commercial on television for a credit card, that the charges are so high, but it is probably best not to give serious lectures and warnings about credit cards and debt. Try not to use credit cards yourself, especially lavishly and in front of the children.

There is not guarantee that any of the above will make one iota of difference, but at least, as with many aspects of parenting, you have given it your best shot.

This student debt article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner and part author of the Eliminate Credit Card Debt Now website.

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“Life offers two great gifts: time and the
ability to choose how we spend it. Planning is a process of
choosing among those many options. If we do not choose to plan,
then we choose to have others plan for us.” Richard I. Winwood

Performing redundant tasks, putting your time into ridiculous
activities, and wasting minutes here and there all add up to
significant amounts of unproductive time over your lifetime.

Consider statistics, recently reported by time-management
experts, that the average American wastes over his or her
lifetime:

eight months opening junk mail

seventeen months drinking coffee and soft drinks

two years on the telephone

five years waiting in line

nine months sitting in traffic

four years cooking and eating

a year and a half grooming

a year and a half dressing

seven years in bathrooms

twelve years watching TV

three years shopping

one to two years looking for misplaced objects

24 years sleeping

We could come up with some pretty fun statistics on how much time mothers waste doing redundant tasks:

picking up stray toys

wiping kitchen countertops

scouring the sink

washing the dishes

doing the laundry

folding clothing

putting the laundry away

cleaning bathrooms

mopping the floor

collecting the garbage

changing diapers

changing crib sheets

wiping runny noses and dirty bottoms

getting little ones out of car seats

blah blah blah…does the list ever end?

In order to eliminate common areas of wasted time, you need to be constantly on the lookout for ways in which you might use time more effectively.

A few tips:

Stop watching TV…or severely restrict your tube time. Allow
yourself to watch the evening news for one hour after the kids
are in bed. Eliminate morning “fluff” TV and afternoon talk
shows. They are minor on content and major on commercials and
pure nonsense. Unless you’re sick in bed or need to spend the day on the sofa, give them up.

Keep a lot of irons in the fire. Remember the old saying: “If you need something done, ask a busy person to do it.” The busy person is always ready because she has momentum. Doers always have multiple irons in the fire, so new projects are always ready to be tackled when boredom or fatigue sets in with her current project. Don Aslett calls it “ship jumping.” When enthusiasm wanes, a project gets boring, or we need to put a temporary freeze on a project for one reason or another, we jump ship, leave it, and move on to something else. Working this way, you become fast, efficient, motivated, and highly productive.

Lastly, think ahead. Moms who “stand ready” always thing ahead to the next probable scenario. Red traffic lights are not stops;
they are pauses for reflection about the next intended thing.
Carpool lines are not monotonous waiting lines; they are times to write or read or do one’s make-up or nails or plot out the next intended thing. Ditto for doctor’s office waits, grocery line queues, and gas station fill-ups. Rocket Moms use these as
intentional “mental moments”–always taking in opportunities for
action, planning the next intended event, organizing the rest of
the day, or reviewing activities lined up for the kids.

Critically examine the ways in which you spend your time. See if
you might find yourself surprised to find extra hours in your
day…to take a bubble bath, write a letter, paint a picture, or
read a great book.

Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and worked at IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch before coming home to work as a wife and mother of four. She totally re-invented herself along the way. Strong convictions were born about the role of the arts in child development; homeschooling for ten years provided fertile soil for devising creative parenting strategies. These are played out in ROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into Brilliance. It is available on Amazon.com, in bookstores everywhere, or by calling 888-476-2493. She writes extensively for a variety of parenting resources and teaches other moms via parenting classes and radio and TV interviews. Please visit http://www.rocketmom.com to subscribe to her free ezine and get a weekly shot of inspiration.

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Am I pregnant? This is often one of the most important questions a women can ask. If you suspect you are pregnant, getting good prenatal care early is very important, so finding out as soon as possible is vital.

Am I pregnant? Have you missed a period? Are you bloated? Are your breasts tender? These may be early symptoms of pregnancy. Have you spotted, but never gotten your period? Do things smell and taste differently? Are you tired?

If you can answer yes to at least one or two of these questions, you may be pregnant. However, some women never suspect that they have conceived. As soon as your period is late, you can perform an at-home pregnancy test inexpensively and privately. These tests can be found at your local discount or drug store. The at-home tests claim 99% accuracy, and false positives are rare, so if you test positive you are most likely pregnant. Since these tests measure the level of pregnancy hormone (HCG) in your urine, it’s important to follow the instructions carefully and repeat a negative test a few days to a week later just to be sure. Sometimes hormone levels don’t rise high enough to be detected right away.

If you suspect you are pregnant, refrain from smoking, drinking alcohol and using illegal drugs until you are sure. These substances are harmful to a developing baby. Stay away from x-rays and try to eat healthy until your pregnancy is confirmed.

Maria writes for Pregnancy Due Date, a site that tries to information for expectant mothers. For more great pregnancy articles, visit our Pregnancy articles archive.

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Valley National Bancorp (VLY) is a conservative bank with a strong position in northern New Jersey and a presence in Manhattan. The bank, founded in 1927, has about $12 billion in assets.

Valley has consistently earned extraordinary returns on assets and equity. Over the last twenty years, Valley has averaged a 1.74% return on assets and a 21.12% return on equity.

Valley’s worst two-year performance occurred in 1990 and 1991. During that period, Valley’s return on equity dropped as low as 14.54% and its ROA dropped as low as 1.29%. Even in Valley’s worst year (1991), the company still managed to roughly match the average long-term performance of most of its peers. In other words, Valley’s worst year was a close to typical year for many other banks.

It was at this low-point in 1991 that the board of directors decided not to increase the cash dividend. That was the only year in the last 37 that Valley did not increase its dividend.

The company has 79 consecutive years of profitable operations. That’s over 300 quarters (Valley has yet to post a quarterly loss). More importantly, Valley has a record of earning great returns on both assets and equity over long periods of time. So, what’s the company’s secret?

Location

Northern New Jersey is about the best place in the world to situate a bank. This isn’t hyperbole; if there’s a better location, I’ve yet to hear of it. As you know, American banks are unusually profitable. The market is large and highly fragmented. So, naturally the best place to situate a bank would be in the United States. But, why north Jersey in particular?

In a September 20th, 2001 interview with The Wall Street Transcript, Valley’s chairman, Gerald Lipkin, explained why northern New Jersey is such an attractive market:

“Northern New Jersey is the single most densely populated area on earth. There are more people per square mile in northern New Jersey than there are in India, China, Japan or anyplace else. We have the highest median family income in the United States in that area. So, we serve a very densely populated and affluent area, which is not dominated by any single industry.”

Focus

Valley maintains a narrow focus both in terms of geography and services. The company’s offices are kept within one hour of the bank’s headquarters in Wayne, NJ. In the same interview, Mr. Lipkin explained why this geographic concentration is important: “We like to make it very convenient for our client base to meet with senior management as well as the other members of our staff.”

Valley focuses on relationship banking. The company has residency requirements for its directors. The majority of directors are to live within 100 miles of the corporate headquarters. Furthermore, each board member is required to use Valley for both business and personal accounts. Theoretically, these two requirements ensure board members are familiar with the bank’s services and are best able to understand the needs of local businesses.

Discipline

Valley has a history of highly disciplined lending. Charge-offs are immaterial. Current reserves are adequate to cover many years of future charge-offs with little difficulty. The company’s asset quality ratios and loan to value ratios both indicate Valley has a more conservative approach to lending than many of its peers.

Undoubtedly, the local economy is helpful in this regard. Valley does not need to make questionable loans, because there is an abundance of opportunity in the local area. It is possible for the bank to remain fairly selective without forfeiting growth entirely. For instance, despite having $12 billion in assets, Valley only has about a 6% market share in northern New Jersey.

Management

Banking, like insurance, is a business where a particularly good or particularly poor management can greatly affect long-term results. The current Chairman, President, and CEO, Gerald Lipkin, has served for just over thirty years now. His record is unblemished.

Of course, the real responsibility for avoiding mistakes lies with others in the organization. There are few businesses where individual employees can do as much harm as they can within a bank. Valley’s past record and the level of experience of its top managers suggests investors should encounter very few unpleasant surprises resulting from human error.

Mr. Lipkin made his management philosophy quite clear with his concluding remarks in the aforementioned 2001 interview with The Wall Street Transcript:

“We never bet the ranch - we never put the bank in harms way on any single issue that could really harm it. Lending money is a risk taking business. So, obviously we at times have problems, situations with individual loans, but we try to avoid concentrations that could create major problems.”

Valuation

Valley National Bancorp is a solid, well-run bank operating in a geographic area with excellent economics. The company’s physical footprint and its existing relationships give it a narrow moat in a highly profitable (and increasingly competitive) region.

Unfortunately, the company is trading at more than three times book. Three times book is a lot to pay for any bank. Valley’s future growth will likely be somewhat restrained by the company’s conservative approach. Therefore, dividends are going to make up a significant portion of an investor’s total returns.

Conclusion

Valley is a good bank. It has a real moat, albeit a narrow one. Competition is increasing within Valley’s territory. However, the company has been able to compete successfully with new entrants (who tend to take on far less profitable business).

The stock isn’t cheap today, but there is one wrinkle worth keeping in mind. Valley is more dependent upon interest rate spreads than most banks. If the yield curve was to become significantly steeper, Valley would reap outsized rewards.

The current dividend yield on a share of Valley National Bancorp is a little less than 3.5%. Considering the company’s limited growth prospects, this is an unattractive yield. If, during a period of general uncertainty within the banking industry, shares of VLY were to trade closer to two times book, investors would have an opportunity to make a long-term commitment in a quality bank.

Copyright 2006 Geoff Gannon

Geoff Gannon writes a daily value investing blog and produces a twice weekly (half hour) value investing podcast at:
http://www.gannononinvesting.com

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