Mark Batty Strong Quotations

Despite rising rates and competitive products elsewhere, such as money market funds, Wells Fargo posted strong deposit growth.

Wells Fargo looks good. It had strong loan growth, credit quality remains stable, and the mortgage business looks robust despite higher interest rates.

Commercial and industrial loans are growing at a double- digit pace and that's indicative of a fairly strong economy. That, coupled with stable credit quality, has been a positive for banks that focus on small and middle-market businesses.

In some markets we're seeing reasonably strong deposit growth and pretty much across the board, commercial and industrial, middle-market business loans are fairly robust. It's a sign the economy remains fairly strong.

The bankruptcy issue is a one-time situation. Commercial and industrial loan growth was fairly strong and should be the key driver of earnings growth this year for the regional banks.

Clearly, Wells Fargo is one of the better-positioned banks. It is in growth markets, has strong asset quality and profitability metrics and its valuation appears reasonable.