SunTrust Banks, Inc. Message Board

Huck, give STI a chance. I'm not even a
stockholder and believe them to be a good hold. This may seem
irrelevant but in years past, I've run into STI people at
various schools, conferences, etc., and they seemed
genuinely happy to be with STI. I've run into just as many
Crestar people, and those feelings weren't there.
As
for the NC territory, there's always BB&T to fill a
handy niche in the geography. I suspect BB&T knows it's
vulnerable and why they've been trying to swell up with
additional purchases, and wooing First Virginia hard.

I'm glad your second job is so rewarding especially
watching the young Tech minds grow and achieve. Perhaps
this scenario would bode well for a MCD stock
purchase?
Actually I thought Pizza Hut and Domino's
deliveries had gobbled up the available hokies.
What do
all UVA grads and Va. Tech grads have in common? They
were all accepted at Tech.

The Heels beat you fair and square... Even Ronald
Curry knows a good opportunity [a Carolina Education]
when he sees it... so should you, hold on to your STI,
it's stock will rise as fast as Carolins B-ball next
year!

I haven't had time to post lately. Since my CF
converted to STI stock and subsequently went into the
crapper, I've had to take a second job to make ends meet.


For all those long time STI'ers, maybe this stock has
served you well, but I'm not impressed over the 6 months
or so I've been following it. The bank group is down
3% or so year to date, but STI is down 12-14% or so.
Mediocre earnings growth compared to its peer group, a
very high efficiency ratio, and no discernible
strategy on the retail banking side. The street is
apparently not impressed.

Have there been any
statements regarding the obvious hole in the franchise, NC
and SC? Obviously you aren't going to go out and name
potential targets, but how 'bout a strategy? Seems they
just bought Crestar and left it alone. How does that
make sense? How do you pay for the (now evaporated)
acquisition premium without some cost cutting? Maybe there
has been some consolidation on the corporate side,
but what's with the retail businesses, including
credit card, consumer finance, mortgage, etc.? I've been
thru several bank mergers, so I now it takes time, but
we're 6 months in and they haven't even made some of
the basic transition decisions. In at least one of
the above, they've actually punted and hired a
consultant to figure it out. Look for that to take another 6
months to a year, and cost a fortune.

I no
longer have any access to the inside scoop, so maybe
some of you STI'ers can explain this all to me.
Hopefully, I'm wrong. I'll continue to hold this stock, but
I'm holding it for the takeover
premium.

Gunnar, there is one good thing about having to take that
second job down at McDonald's. As lead fry cook, I get
to boss a host of recent Va. Tech graduates
around.

P.S.- I hate Ademola Okalaja as much as I hate Ronald
Curry.

I was wondering when you'd surface again. I see
you have fans all over the boards. Personally I miss
football season, except for one particular roundball game
against Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University--try fitting that on your college ring.

I'll bet you hate DUKE, too.......Also, can't you
find anything better to do than foke huckies
?........Weren't you the guy who posted a lot with someone from
Russia on the old Crestar board ? .........
Ching-a-ling, man.

as for my stock price comparison to WB that you called unfair -- that was your comparison I was refuting!!!!! Please refer to your post, OJ.

Helllloooo in there, anybody home?

I don't think many of us have the time or energy
to refute, point by point, all of OJ's ridiculous
comments. One thing I will say, though, is that to say STI
is playing follow the leader is the single most
inane comment I've seen on this board. If this is true,
OJ, who is the leader that STI is following? Every
big bank now has an investment-banking arm. It is a
necessity in today's environment. I guess most commercial
bankers just don't appreciate the differences in
culture--but, clearly, the current landscape is so competitive,
all banks must offer all products (on some scale).
Although "tying" is illegal, you had better believe that
every bank in the country uses considerable leverage to
keep as much business as possible business in house.


Also, to say that the deals these banks have entered
into are dilutive initially, but really "anything but"
is not only uninformed, but flat out stupid. Let's
look at NB/BBI. This deal was, in fact, significantly
dilutive in the first year --- but, it got even worse.
Read the fairness opinions on the transaction. It
called for revenue synergies -- not just cost savings --
to make the deal work. NB/BAC stock has performed
terribly, the bank lost big corporate customers, the
integration was pushed back, and McColl acknowledged that
there would not, in fact, be any revenue synergies well
after that fact became evident. This is just one
example.

For a couple years now, Wall Street
analysts have crucified many of these banks for
significantly diluting the shareholders' earnings base with all
these acquisitions. In saying that these deals are
really anything but dilutive, you make me laugh.


The truth is, at the end of the day nobody knows how
dilutive or accretive any of these deals are, particularly
given that new deals are often announced and
consummated prior to the closing of the previous deal. This
creates a big cloud under which some bank mgmts try to
(and often can) hide (i.e. BAC). They then point to
the same things as you -- the league tables -- to
justify their actions.

The only way mergers in
this business (the super-regional/national banks)
continue in the future is through mergers of equals at
little/no premium.

Wake up, everyone. This is the
new world.

And now, on with the debate!

I just think OJ is missing the big picture with
STI. He focuses too much on some details thast really
don't amount to much in the total scheme of things. He
may or may not be right, but so what when it comes to
evaluating STI. It is, however, good to see him posting his
thoughts and comments. Without them there wouldn't be much
left to debate. Keep it up OJ. The 3 Bs love ya, but
you can't get away with much on this board....too
many smart ex-bankers and in-the-know people. They
give me hell all the time too, but that's what it's
all about. By the way Blue, you gotta admit Clinton
was smart to appoint Rubin and keep Greenspan.... a
Republican Congress helps too.

I stand corrected; however, the Clinton bit was
just begging for critcism. That part set the whole
tone for what the gentleman
posted.

O.J.:

-"a management that avoids catastrophic mistakes"
(your own words, what better kind could you want or am
I missing something?)

-To argue that STI is
stragling behind the top 10 banks is quite powerful, to say
the least. 6 months ago STI was barely known as
evidenced by the average daily volume of its stock price,
the volume is up substantially, my numbers come in
around 32% since the CF announcement. Now you want to up
and compare them with BAC, FTU, CMB to name a few?
But I contend that STI will never be like those
banks, never have, never will.

-Semi-autonomous
nature of state franchises (STI is decentralized. That's
a fact. Their earnings history can defend that mode
of business. As I have posted before, that mode is
shifting slightly, albeit a marked shift with the CIB
restructuring. I could throw several cliches at you about not
messing with something that works pretty well, but I'll
spare you.

-So you don't like Equitable? Ok, I
don't either, but it is a circular revenue generator.
The CIB restructuring should manipulate some of STI
resources and Trust connections to better utilize this
business. That is being worked on presently from what I can
gather.

STI's Corporate Banking is not sluggish or whatever
misnomer you attached to it. You said your expertise was
with Commercial Banking, so what evidence do have
about Corp. banking? Last I saw they were doing quite
well from that arm of the bank.

Operating
efficiency is measured several ways, as you know, and we can
get into that in more detail, but what about ROA and
ROE as my fellow STIer Billymag pointed out?
Historically, STI is very, very strong. Start there, and if you
don't like what you see, dig a little deeper and SHOW
us how STI is inefficient.

-STI does have
some technology issues to straighten out, that's for
sure, but Y2K is fast approaching and the many millions
STI has spent will start taking effect. They will be
there soon enogh. The FTU branches in Fla. is a pretty
good example of the bank keeping one ear to the ground
so to speak.

-Blue