Electronic Banking Takes Another New Form In Lobby Of U.S. Bank

Banking just doesn’t seem to be banking these days unless an electron is involved.

Thursday, U.S. Bank of Washington unveiled still another incarnation of the industry’s future, this time in the form of a kiosk in its downtown Spokane branch.

A touch-screen monitor, video camera, printer and drop box tucked in the lobby enable a user to communicate with a live banker in Portland who can help start an account, fill out a credit card application or sell a certificate of deposit.

Called UBANK ON-Sight, the installation is the first in Washington and only the second overall. The system was tested in Portland.

Assistant Vice President Michael Cebula said plans call for the installation of dozens throughout U.S. Bancorporation’s six-state operating area.

Most will be in locations - small towns and college campuses, for example - where a full-service branch is uneconomical, he said.

Cebula said officials expect the kiosks to appeal to customers already comfortable with automated teller machines and home banking using personal computers.

NAIC promotes ‘Own Your Share’

For some students, it’s the month they graduate, taking a major step forward in their lives.

For many couples, it’s the month that they formally tie the knot, becoming a couple until death do they part - hopefully.

But for small investors, it’s the month that the National Association of Investors Corp.’s regional councils join forces to promote the “Own Your Share of America” campaign.

In its first four years, the NAIC program has helped to significantly increase the number of individual investors participating in the market. Since the campaign began in 1992, NAIC membership has grown from 154,000 to 425,000.

More than 200 companies nationwide are actively participating in the program and dozens are sponsoring investment seminars to show their employees the value and opportunity in stock ownership.

The NAIC’s Tom O’Hara says that “the Own Your Share of America program has succeeded in helping millions of people understand both the personal value of share ownership and the contribution it can make to a better economy and the development of jobs in the United States.”

The NAIC is a national nonprofit organization of investment clubs and individuals whose goal is to provide investment education to help its members become successful, lifelong investors. For more information on the program, call 810-583-6242.

Vitamin news unhealthy for stock

There’s been a lot of good news published recently about Vitamin E, including a recent study in a British journal that found daily consumption of Vitamin E pills by people with heart problems reduced heart attacks by 75 percent.

In fact, a recent story quoted Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, saying that Vitamin E “is the most exciting, interesting area in diet and heart disease at the moment … it looks like the potential for reduction in risk could be extremely large.”

But for at least one company, the surge in interest in the vitamin has hurt its financial performance.

General Nutrition Cos. reported after the close of the trading Tuesday that sales will slow in the last three quarters of its fiscal year.

In part, the reason is a shortage of Vitamin E, a key ingredient in many of its products, is hurting its performance.

When the market opened Wednesday General Nutrition shares dropped $4.50 to $14 as 36 million shares changed hands. The stock closed Friday at $15.50.

Bid-ask spread explained

If a stock is quoted at $46 bid, $46.25 ask, how would a buy order at $46.12 be handled on the New York Stock Exchange and at the Nasdaq Stock Market?

Simply put, prices of stocks as they trade are quoted on two sides - how much someone is bidding to buy the stock and how much someone is asking for the stock.

On the New York Stock Exchange, an inside limit order, such as the $46.12 bid, is supposed to be displayed by the specialist handling the stock on the exchange floor. In this case, the new spread would be $46.2 bid, $46.25 ask.

Displaying the inside bid may be delayed for up to two minutes after it is received at the NYSE when the number of shares bid for at 46 far exceeds the shares bid for at $46.12

If the larger order settles at $46, the bidder at $46.12 is supposed to get the lower price. But the larger order can settle at $46.25 without the smaller limit order bid at $46.12 being filled. That’s one reason why many individual investors prefer to buy at the market price - the price at what transactions are actually occurring when their order is entered.

On the Nasdaq Stock Market, where bid/ask spreads sometimes are much wider than $.25, there is currently no obligation for Nasdaq dealers to display an inside limit order bid or ask price. However, Nasdaq officials say that by this summer such a limit-order system will exist.

, DataTimes