Broker's Lament---------
    AccessLease with New "Private Label" On Line Program
         ( stops 25% mark-up fee--read the release to see this claim and others )
    Dow Jones Newspapers Says "Finova Having More Problems" ( oh, really--editor--see List ).
    Marhsall-Isley Report Third Quarter Profit $90.6 Million compared to Last Year $90.8 million
    Patton Joins LeasePoint   
    US Bancorp Reports Earning $16.7 million versus last year $16.2 Million ( full report )

Kit

By the way, Tuxedo Park is in NY, not NJ, however the rest of the story is true. Tuxedo Park is 5 minutes from my office.

daryl
daryl@pyramidleasing.com

( I can't see too well recently, so thought the Y was a J. Daryl is correct: "This day in 1886 Griswold Lorillard of Tuxedo Park, New York, fashioned the first tuxedo for men." Not New Jersey,but New York.---editor )

( I am getting static from my advisory board and from readers for not attributing "opinions". I have been really worked over for telling sources on the telephone, and will not do so. No one will trust me if I do not honor their instruction. Many fear attribution. Here is an excellent example, I think, and I asked him if I could quote him...he said yes, but don't use his name---editor )

A Broker's Lament

I find the industry going in the wrong direction for many people like me. My funding sources have told me to expect to see higher rates and a demand for better credits. I'm confused, because in the 80's that policy promoted portfolio run-off. I understand tightening credit but this doesn't make sense. Another funding source said that broker paper has more fraud than from direct sales people. Ask DCC and Eaton (oh' he's no longer in business, twice)or Master Lease (excuse me, they're not around either), just to name a few. The answer is educating the brokers and giving them a CLEAR understanding of what the Funding source will accept. I talked to 1 finding source the other day who said that he was working with a broker on a deal whose owner had a BK. The other day that same funding source said they didn't accept deals with a BK. The Funding Sources are inviting us to shot-gun applications, however, that's against our broker agreement. It's disgusting and they won't be happy until they aren't getting any more business from us 'cheating, money grabbing, fraud riddled, self serving' brokers. After all, we don't care about anyone except ourselves.

( I asked him if I could quote him and use his name. Here is his response: )

Kit,

Your summary of my statement is OK except I'd like to keep my name out of it. It's been my experience that policy makers don't get mad, they get even. They never were on 'the street' trying to make a buck so some low-life broker can't know what's really going on. And if they were on the street, they were quitters.

I had this same argument with a direct source I worked for in the 80's. I couldn't tell the inside people what was going on because they would make it hard on my Vendors if I showed them up.

Life goes on and that's why brokers move from source to source. There's no consistency with one source. I get a kick out of the 80's when things started to go bad.

Their answer was:

1. raise rates
2. demand better credits
3. FMV no longer meant 'estimated at 10%' but was to grab for as much as they could
4. no longer trust their Vendors (or their sales people)
5. interim rent and last but not least
6. fire their sales people, i.e. Dana Commerical Credit

With 2 kids in college and a hefty mortgage, every deal is important. The Funding Sources just play with our minds with the hopes of 'the next deal'. Their philosophy is for us to send them all our business so that they can pick and choose and discard the rest.

No relationship is being formed to treat us like 'part of the company'. The closest I have come to a true funding source was Nations Credit. I knew what they wanted and they treated me great. But then came Textron with 25% residuals and rude customer service people.

Kit, as you can tell, I have a lot of anger and confusion at the same time. It's been a rocky road the last 15 years. As an attorney for one of our illustrious trade groups said to me, 'you guys made a fortune and now your paying for it'. Excuse me!!!

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation Reports Third Quarter Earnings

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ --

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE: MI) today announced operating income for the third quarter ended September 30, 2000 was $90.6 million, compared to $90.8 million net income recorded in the same period in 1999. Diluted income per share increased 2.5 percent to $.83 for the third quarter, versus $.81 for the same period a year ago. Cash diluted income per share was $.88, versus $.85 a year ago.

Return on average assets was 1.44 percent versus 1.56 percent in 1999. Return on tangible equity was 20.46 percent this quarter compared to 21.04 percent for the third quarter of 1999.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2000, operating income was $271.5 million, versus $263.9 million of income for the same period in 1999. Diluted income per share was $2.49, versus $2.33 for the nine months ended September 30, 1999.

Assets at quarter end were $25.2 billion, compared to $23.6 billion for the same period in 1999. Book value per share was $20.62 at September 30, 2000, compared to $19.41 for the same date a year ago. Total loans were $17.3 billion, versus $15.6 billion at September 30, 1999. Operating income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2000, excludes losses from the sale of investment securities and loans, expenses of the Metavante Corporation IPO and expenses associated with charter consolidations which aggregated $38.8 million after tax.

Net income and diluted earnings per share amounted to $51.8 million and $.48 for the three months, and $232.6 million and $2.13 for the nine months, ended September 30, 2000, respectively.

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., has $25.2 billion in assets. The Corporation has 26 affiliate banks with more than 200 offices in Wisconsin. The Corporation also has a bank in Phoenix, Ariz. with 13 offices, a bank in Nevada with offices located in Illinois and Florida and trust companies in Wisconsin, Arizona and Florida.

M&I, a diversified financial services company, also owns and operates 49 offices throughout the country that provide trust and investment management, equipment leasing, mortgage banking and data processing.

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation will hold a conference call at 11:00 a.m. central daylight time, Wednesday, October 11 regarding third quarter earnings. For those interested in listening, please call 800-949-2165 and reference the M&I Quarterly Financial Conference Call.

SOURCE Marshall & Ilsley Corporation

CO: Marshall & Ilsley Corporation

ST: Wisconsin

-Leasing Industry Veteran Joins LeasePoint.com as Vice President, Leasing Services

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 2000--LeasePoint.com, an emerging industry leader in technology equipment leasing, announced today it has named Bill Patton as vice president of leasing services. In his new role, Patton will be responsible for developing and cultivating the company's relationships with national vendor partners who provide technology equipment to a broad audience of end-users.

Immediately prior to joining LeasePoint.com, Bill spent four years as vice president for Lease Acceptance Corporation. During this time he was key to the implementation of an online lease process for retail technology markets.

"Bill has spent the last 16 years working in equipment leasing sales, management and operations," David McNutt, founder and CEO of LeasePoint.com, said. "His understanding of the industry will help further develop the product portfolio LeasePoint.com brings to the leasing industry. We are very excited to have him."

From 1984 - 1995, Patton served in various management positions including vice president at AT&T Capital Corporation, establishing the fastest growing, most profitable region in the company. At AT&T, Patton helped to design a credit scoring system and worked closely with credit processing and vendor funding, giving him first-hand experience with the hassles of paper-born equipment leasing.

"There are a number of challenges within traditional equipment leasing," Patton said. "LeasePoint.com opens leasing to a wider variety of vendors by simplifying the industry and removing obstacles typically associated with leasing."

Patton began his career in leasing by opening and expanding eight sales and regional offices for Eaton Financial Corporation. He built and restructured new sales territories, and increased his region's sales and portfolio by 500 percent in two years.

Patton holds a bachelor of science degree in business and finance from the University of Oregon.

About LeasePoint.com

Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, LeasePoint.com is rapidly emerging as an industry-leading Internet site for businesses seeking to lease technology equipment. LeasePoint.com matches business customers needing technology equipment with vendors and lenders to give businesses the best lease options available. LeasePoint does this with specially developed technology that removes the obstacles of traditional leasing and makes the process fast and easy.

CONTACT: LeasePoint.com, Minneapolis

Elen Bahr

Vice President of Marketing

952-841-7500

ebahr@leasepoint.com

AccessLease Launches Private-Label Online Leasing Solution
By Kevin Newcomb, Internet News

AccessLease launched its online private-label leasing solution designed for equipment and software providers, B2B marketplaces and financial institutions that want to add a branded point-of-sale financing option for all of their customers.

AccessLease enables institutions to give their customers instant access to the industry's best equipment and lowest rates from the nation's top funding sources. With AccessLease's proprietary scoring and analysis technology, vendors of the private-label solutions gain new or increased revenue through a branded channel, real-time order fulfillment and a higher percentage of approved customer leases. In turn, their business customers benefit from lower pricing; access to a diverse product selection; a simple application and fast approval process; and 24-hour online account management.

"We seek to enable real-time frictionless distribution of capital for equipment acquisition over the Internet -- which means true point-of-sale leasing, regardless of the channel a customer goes through to purchase equipment or software for their business," said Troy Klith, founder and CEO of AccessLease.

As a proof-of-concept of this new solution, AccessLease is hosting an online marketplace that gives small businesses a way to lease equipment from a variety of top vendors via qualified funding sources. The company also announced Monday that Planetary Networks, a reseller of Cisco equipment and products, has implemented the AccessLease Solution to offer online leasing to its small business and Fortune 500 customers.

The founders of AccessLease came from traditional leasing companies where they recognized a number of inefficiencies in the unregulated equipment leasing industry that demanded a new, streamlined process. Equipment and software providers and B2B marketplaces demanded real-time point-of-sale funding solutions while providing a broad credit offering to their customers. Funding sources incurred high transaction costs while only providing leases to 20% of the applicants, and business customers found it difficult to obtain market rate information, struggled with cumbersome, paper-intensive processes and were typically paying up to a 25% markup charge for leasing.

The AccessLease solution easily integrates within equipment and software providers and B2B marketplaces' point-of-sale infrastructures so they can offer their own customers (the lessees) an automated, cost-effective real-time leasing solution.

AccessLease's private-label leasing solution includes real-time credit scoring and decision making that determines risk, chooses a lender profile, and adjusts pricing utilizing its national network of lease funding sources; sophisticated lease analysis tools; automated documentation-generation and online status reporting. AccessLease also offers a point-of-sale leasing solution for sales forces to directly manage and facilitate leasing transactions for their customers. Business customers that lease through private-label solutions powered by AccessLease have access to diverse lending packages that accommodate "A" through "D" credit types.

The beta version of the AccessLease System will be available in October and commercially available by the end of the year. The sales force point-of-sale leasing solution is available now.

Finova Stock Falls As Buyout Hopes Wane
By Anne Brady, Dow Jones Newswires

Shares of beleaguered Finova Group, which had been fluctuating for months on buy out rumors, are now dropping as speculation focuses on less glamorous bailout alternatives.

"A large amount of hope (for a buyer) has been lost," said Legg Mason Wood Walker analyst David Sochol. "This is a very troubled company."

If potential buyers have been doing due diligence on Finova - as its executives have said - those suitors have probably realized that their shareholders would probably not approve of a purchase of the Scottsdale, AZ, financial-services company, Sochol said.
Earlier Tuesday (10/10/00), the stock hit an all-time low of $4.75, breaking through the previous bottom of $5.50 set Friday (10/6/00). It recently traded at $5.
Finova executives recently told investors they will delay the company's third-quarter earnings release because they hope to include news on their progress exploring "strategic alternatives."
The results, usually announced the week of Oct. 16, may be released as late as Nov. 14. Such a delay might have created hopeful suspense, but analysts said it seems doubtful that Finova has found a buyer. Given recent statements from executives and the amount of time the company has been working on a deal, it appears that Finova will announce a cash infusion from one or more investors, some analysts said. Some analysts doubt that will be enough for the company to regain investment-grade ratings and access to commercial paper.

Some analysts think a change in management also is needed to restore credibility. In addition, Finova, which recently sold a receivables factoring division for $235 million, may announce sales of additional divisions, analysts said.

Finova Chief Executive Matt Breyne said he is "disappointed" with the length of time it is taking to make the deal or deals necessary to turn the company around.
"It's not been a good market into which to try to sell a commercial finance company," he said. "This has been consuming for our organization for five months and it will remain so." Five months ago, some of Finova's banks announced they would not renew $500 million in short-term credit. The company drew on a more expensive backup credit line and announced it had hired Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. to help it study strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, to help strengthen its balance sheet and regain access to lower-cost capital. The stock crept up from $8.50 to around $16 in July on various buy out rumors, most of which were of deals in the $20 a share range, until the company released second-quarter earnings with no news of an agreement and without holding a conference call. The stock has slipped since, including a major dip to a then 52-week low of $6.50 in mid-August, when Moody's Investors Service downgraded Finova's debt ratings to below investment grade.

Later in August, Finova Chairman John Teets said several parties had expressed interest in recapitalizing the company with an equity infusion of $250 million to $300 million or more. At the time, he said he expected to announce a deal within 30 days. One month later, the stock inched above $8 a share as rumors swirled about a possible investor; when a deal didn't materialize according to Teets' timetable, the stock dropped again.

Finova Senior Vice President Stu Tashlik said Teets' August remarks were "just an estimate of when he thought something would happen." The failure to announce a deal by the end of September doesn't necessarily mean a deal has fallen through, he added.

But analysts said the kind of investment Teets mentioned may not be enough to make a difference to Finova and might anger shareholders by diluting the value of their stock.
"The fixed-income investors (bond holders) would be ecstatic, but the equity investors would have no tolerance for that," said analyst Reilly Tierney with Fox-Pitt Kelton. "The investors would see $300 million as nothing, and it would be very dilative... without really bolstering the balance sheet."

That Finova is talking about an equity infusion, he added, probably means the company is suffering from greater loan losses than it has previously disclosed.
The banks' decision to cut off Finova came not long after the company announced it would have to write off a $70 million bad loan to a California computer distributor. At least four lawsuits, the latest of which was filed last week, have alleged that Finova executives misled investors about that loan. Tierney said the banks are not going to change their minds about Finova based on an infusion of only $300 million.

An equity sale could fail to return Finova to an investment-grade company, said analyst Rob Schwartzberg of Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co.
Although Schwartzberg raised his price target on Finova from $15 to $16 on Aug. 3, "that assumed the company would be able to sell assets," he said. "Since then, there has been more evidence they are trying to raise money through a sale of equity. The target is not valid if they substantially increase the number of shares outstanding."
Schwartzberg said he suspects the company is close to announcing a deal. Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Hughes said a cash infusion could be helpful, but would need to be about twice the amount Teets mentioned.

If Finova can't sell itself in total, it might make sense for it to sell off more divisions, some analysts said. That's not at the top of the company's list, Breyne said, but it could be considered as a last resort to pay off loans coming due in the spring.
Legg Mason's Sochol said he expects to see piecemeal asset sales, resulting in "a controlled liquidation of the company."

Schwartzberg agreed that it would make more sense to liquidate assets, particularly if Finova can raise the equivalent of $10 to $12 a share rather than sell stock at current market prices. It is possible that a combination of several deals could work out for investors in the end, Hughes said.

"They are intimating strongly they're going to get cash," he said. "Hopefully, they'll get it; they'll sell some assets, and they'll bide their time (until the market improves for selling the rest of the company). Long-term, structurally, they may want to liquidate the company." News of any deal would be good news for investors at this point, said analyst Mike Vinciquerra with Raymond James & Associates.

But Schwartzberg said that no news by Nov. 14 "is more likely to be perceived as bad news."

First Bancorp Reports Record Earnings in Third Quarter

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- First BanCorp (NYSE: FBP) reported today earnings of $16,699,212 or $0.56 per share (basic and diluted), for the third quarter of 2000, as compared to earnings of $16,208,146 or $0.50 per share (basic and diluted) for the third quarter of 1999; an increase of 12% in earnings per share. Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) were 1.23% and 21.26%, respectively, for the quarter, as compared to 1.51% and 21.02% respectively, for the same quarter of last year. Return on common equity was 26.94% for the quarter as compared to 26.74% for the same quarter of 1999. Average common shares used to calculate earnings per share were 26,724,904 (basic) and 26,926,717 (diluted).

For the nine months period ended September 30, 2000, earnings were $49,527,651 or $1.65 per share (basic) and $1.64 per share (diluted), as compared to $45,742,875 or $1.48 per share (basic) and $1.47 per share (diluted), for the first nine months of 1999, an increase of 11.6% in diluted earnings per share.

The earnings increase is mainly the result of a rise in net interest income and other income. Commenting on third quarter results, Mr. Angel Alvarez, CEO of First BanCorp, said, "we have experienced substantial loan growth and notable results of our efforts to diversify our sources of revenues; we are very pleased with the results we have achieved so far during 2000." Net interest income, the Corporation's main source of income, was $47.0 million during the third quarter of 2000, as compared to $46.8 million for the third quarter of 1999. New loan volumes in the corporate sector provided a notable increase in the Corporation's revenues, which helped offset higher funding costs.

Other income was $13.3 million for the quarter, as compared to $8.5 million for the same quarter last year, a 56% increase. This increase of $4.8 million in other income is mainly due to new recurring fees and charges and also includes a gain of $2 million from the active management of the Corporation's investment portfolio, which has represented a continued source of income during the past years. Total assets amounted to $5,649 million as of September 2000 as compared to $4,374 million as of September 30, 1999, and $4,722 million as of December 31, 1999.

Total deposits increased by $892 million, when compared to September 30, 1999 and by $657 million, when compared to December 31,1999. Total loans reached $3.3 billion, a 31% increase when compared to September 1999.

During 2000, the Corporation has made additional efforts to maintain its above average efficiency ratio; this resulted in a ratio of 47.21% for this quarter, as compared to 46.83% for the same quarter of last year. This ratio has remained below 50% regardless of the fact that the Corporation has significantly invested in infrastructure to support new technologically advanced products and in new production areas like corporate services and middle market lending. Operating expenses increased to $28.5 million for the quarter, as compared to $25.9 million for the same quarter last year. The $2.6 million increase is the result of new human and technology resources to support the Bank's growth. The expense base for this third quarter of 2000 also includes four branches acquired in December 1999.

The Corporation's provision for loan losses was $11.6 million, in line with the comparable third quarter 1999 provision of $11.0 million. Net charge offs during this quarter amounted to $10.7 million or 1.34% of average loans annualized, as compared to $10.4 million or 1.69% of average loans annualized, during the third quarter of 1999. Non-performing loans were $67.2 million or 2.03% of total loans as of September 30, 2000, as compared to $54.1 million or 2.14% of total loans as of September 30, 1999. The increase in the absolute amount is due to a large commercial loan, to the addition of non-performing loans of the First Virgin Islands' newly acquired operations, and to the general growth in the loan portfolio. The reserve coverage ratio (allowance to non-performing loans) was 113.7% as of September 30, 2000, as compared to 133.4% as of September 30, 1999.

First BanCorp is a $5.6 billion Financial Holding Company. It is the parent company of FirstBank Puerto Rico, which is the second largest independently owned commercial bank in Puerto Rico. The Bank, which is a well-capitalized institution, operates 53 financial service facilities throughout Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. On September 25, 2000, FirstBank closed the acquisition of a small financial institution in the US Virgin Islands, which was immediately merged into the Bank. FirstBank also operates Money Express, a finance company, with 26 offices throughout the Island, and First Leasing and Car Rental, a car and truck rental leasing company, with offices in Bayamon, Rio Piedras, Guaynabo, Isabela, and Caguas.

The List

49 Leasing Companies Major Changes

American Business Leasing ( gone )
Balboa Capital ( Founder Byrne "...office available any time he wants to use it" ).
The Bancorp Group, Inc. (Southfield, MI) ( no longer in business )
Bankvest (bankrupt)
Bombadier ( reported having problems, not confirmed )
Charter Financial ( purchased by Wells Fargo 9/5/2000 )
Colonial Pacific (11/98) purchased by GE Capital Commerce Security ( closed to leasing broker program )
Copelco ( 4/2000 sold to Citibank )
Creative Capital" of Bloomfield Hills, MI. ( shut-down 3/2000 )
Dana ( sold off, active as captive )
DVI Capital ( out of broker )
eLease ( June/July/2000 senior management changes )
FMA Finance ( reportedly closed to brokers )
Fidelity ( 4/2000 acquired by EAB, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABN AMRO Bank N.V., headquartered in the Netherlands, raising funds )
Finova ( out of market place )
Franklin Bank ( no more leases )
Golden Gate Funding ( 2/99 purchased by Westover Financial )
Heller Financial's Commercial Services Unit ( 10/99 purchased by CIT )
Imperial ( sold portfolio )
Japan Leasing Credit claims ( JLC --6/99 purchased by Orix )
Lease Acceptance Corp---( ceases broker business 7/26/2000 )
Leasing Solutions ( bankrupt )
Liberty Leasing ( closed, California company )
Linc Capital ( out of vendor and broker business, Nasdaq halts stock sales, $13.4 loss last quarter )
Lyon Credit Corporaton ( 9/99 purchased by Hudson United Bancorp )
Manifest Group--( 9/1/2000 purchased by US Bancorp Leasing and Financial, "...a win for all the parties involved," Brian Bjella.
Matsco Financial ( purchased by Greater Bay Bank ) Merit Leasing ( gone )
Metwest Leasing, Spokane Wa. ( advising brokers that they have run out of funds so they are unable to fund a transaction we have there for funding. )
Metrolease--reports closing operation,John Blazek at Evergreen Leasing, Hathcock losing assets, will not confirm nor deny; many serious rumors of fraud floating around the marketplace.)
NationsCredit, Business Leasing Group (1/29/99 sold to Textron**) *"The Business Leasing Group of Nations Credit was sold to Textron and we still do broker business," Jim Merrilees.
NIA National Leasing ( 3/2000 purchased by Lakeland Bancorp )
New England Capital ( sold to Network Capital Alliance a division of Sovereign Bank.
Sovereign did hire two people who will run a sales office in CT, doing basically the same deals with the same people as before. Little will change in that aspect.
Newcourt ( sold off )
Onset Capital ( Irwin buys 87% equity )
Orix ( closes small ticket vendor division in Portland, Oregon, "Business as usual (in New Jersey and with brokers)," says Steve Geller )
Phoenix ( both divisions )
Prime Capital ( 2/2000 purchased by Finatra Capital )
Republic Leasing, South Carolina 9/27/2000 ( "The expected result will be a sale of Republic Leasing"---Dwight Galloway )
Rockford ( sold to American Express )
Scripp Financial ( 6/29/2000 ( purchased by US Bancorp )
SDI ( closed to broker programs )
SFC Capital ( 9/15/2000 purchased by Trinity Capital )
SierraCities ( post $7.7 million second quarter loss, rumors abound,including pending sale. addendum to Special Report on hold until after announcement, now Oct. 19th? )
T&W ( bankrupt, lost their listing )
Transamerica ( sold )
Unicapital ( $11.4 million first quarter loss chairman,CEO,CFO resign, 38 employees cutback, 8/23 BSB to use other funders reported, rumor that BSB will be "spun off", not confirmed and appears to be in the rumor stage right now. Good news, 9/1 Bank of America extends revolving credit line to October 16,2000. 9/29/2000 Many rumors floating around. Leasing News working special report on this company is on hold ))
USA Capital Leasing ( gone-bk )

any corrections, additions, or comments are appreciated.

( note: we are working on dividing this into two groups, one for changes in the last year time period only )