Andy Collins Quotations

I think it's a great fit at the right price, ... At a high price it's a lousy deal, but at a lower price it's a great deal.

I think the impetus of the Chase-J.P Morgan merger is that everybody's getting bigger and bigger in this group. You saw the acquisition of PaineWebber and then DLJ, and really the playing field gets that much smaller. There's only three targets left out there and J.P. Morgan represents the best of that bunch,

I think that they'll have to cut some heads at J.P. Morgan, ... That's not particularly good for the franchise. I'm not too happy to see it.

I think that the smaller banks are probably going to have more difficulties in the upcoming six-to-12 months simply because they have relied on loan growth to drive EPS growth to meet consensus expectations. And loan growth is not where you want to be. Bread-and-butter banking is not that great of a business. And you're also the ends in terms of margin pressure. The Fed has raised rates 175 basis points, which usually translates into a much more difficult margin environment. And I think that that is going to hurt the bank below the top 15 in market cap for the near term. I would say the larger-cap banks, once they get over the capital markets issues they're experiencing over the second quarter, should see a little bit more strength.

People look at Brazil in the same terms they look at China.

I still have a desire to undertake some coaching role within the AFL-VFL system, but my primary time commitments will be to my position at Cricket Victoria. I have thoroughly enjoyed my stint as Box Hill Hawks coach and I wish them well for season 2006,

I think for the near-term it's probably done. Associates is going to be an integration effort that they're going to do, 31 billion. That's what the size was in market cap. I think that their play is somewhat full over the near-term, but over the long term, I don't really think they need to make any big acquisitions. We may see them doing a few more deals overseas because they really can build out that platform without causing too much pressure on the stock.

I think they're doing the right thing, getting it all out of the way here in the fourth quarter.

It's mostly capital markets-related. Private equity was a big swing factor, and expenses still need to come down a bit ... But it was a very strong trading quarter.

I don?t know how it was changed to this location. It was a good location at the other site. Now we have got into a rush because the state deadline is so close. There are some issues, but because so much effort has been put into it I will vote yes so it can go forward. Something is better than nothing.