Only 10% of the community bankers responding to a survey by Pacific Coast Bankers' Bancshares said they would like to participate in the Treasury Department's capital purchase program.

There is no telling how long the Internal Revenue Service will keep in place a new tax change aimed at encouraging bank acquisitions, so banking lawyers are advising their clients to hurry up and deal.

Citing a writedown of Freddie Mac preferred stock, Astoria Financial Corp. in Lake Success, N.Y., said late Wednesday that it swung to a third-quarter loss of $16.5 million, or 18 cents a share, from a profit of $35.3 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier.

The state of Illinois plans to inject an additional $1 billion of deposits in banks, thrifts and credit unions in hopes that they will use the funds to make more loans.

Shares of Amcore Financial Inc. fell 6.4% Thursday after the Rockford, Ill., reported its third consecutive quarterly loss.

News about the credit crisis just seems to go from bad to worse, with no end in sight.

Reeling from loan losses in its beleaguered home state, Capitol Bancorp Ltd. in Lansing, Mich., plans to cut overhead by combining several of its Michigan banks.

Westamerica Bancorp. in San Rafael, Calif., said Wednesday that it earned just $44,000 in the third quarter after taking an impairment charge of roughly $24 million on its investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock.

When Irwin Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ind., found itself in need of capital, it turned to a company it helped start nearly 90 years ago.

Provident Bankshares Corp. announced Wednesday that it is buying the deposits of Chevy Chase Bank's seven Baltimore-area supermarket branches.

MIDWEST

The Treasury Department's plan to buy stakes in small and regional banks is expected to attract strong interest from hobbled banks struggling to raise capital and perhaps healthy banks that could use the funds to acquire weaker competitors.

Shares of Southern Community Bancshares Inc. in Fayetteville, Ga., fell 20% Tuesday, to $2.40, after the $378 million-asset company said it is operating under a cease-and-desist order from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.

First Interstate BancSystem Inc. in Billings, Mont., said it raised $11.8 million of capital in the third quarter.

For community banks considering near-term investments in technology projects, the financial crisis may represent an opportunity to do so at a reduced cost.

Chemical Financial Corp. in Midland, Mich., already intending to write off a $10.5 million loan it deemed fraudulent, says it expects to take an additional $5 million charge on loans that are not being paid back.

Columbia Bancorp Inc. in The Dalles, Ore., said its former chief executive officer, Terry L. Cochran, has returned to run the ailing company.

Gerald J. Ford made his reputation — and much of his fortune — buying up damaged banks and thrifts during the savings and loan crisis, fixing them, and selling them for top dollar.