Investors obviously were pleased with Taylor Capital Group Inc.'s third-quarter earnings report, but analysts were a little more cautious in their assessments.

AmericanWest Bancorp in Spokane is speeding up its Utah expansion with a deal to buy the $405 million-asset Far West Bancorp in Provo for about $150 million in cash and stock.

Slower net growth in low-cost deposits and a $4.8 million loss at its investment banking subsidiary Ryan Beck & Co. led to disappointing third-quarter earnings for BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc.

With its $6 billion deal to acquire Mercantile Bankshares Corp. of Baltimore, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. would gain about 240 branches stretching from Fredericksburg, Va., to Baltimore, instantly establishing the Pittsburgh company as one of the region's major players.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Republic Bancorp Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich., announced Tuesday that it had third-quarter earnings of $16.2 million, down 6% from last year's third quarter. Diluted earnings per share were flat at 22 cents.

Corus Bankshares Inc. of Chicago reported third-quarter earnings Tuesday of $51.1 million, up 28% from a year earlier and 8 cents above the average of analysts' estimates. Diluted earnings per share were 88 cents, also up 28%.

Earl D. McVicker studied engineering in at Kansas State University, but thoughts of a career in that field quickly faded after he graduated and got a job as a bookkeeper and loan officer trainee at a small Kansas bank.

Virginia Financial Group Inc. in Culpeper is merging two of its separately branded banks into one to improve efficiency.

Peoples Financial Corp. in Biloxi, Miss., reported a $2.7 million profit in the third quarter, a marked improvement over the year earlier, when Hurricane Katrina wiped out its earnings.

Texas Regional Bancshares Inc. in McAllen said Monday that its third-quarter earnings fell about 17.5% from the year earlier, to $16.4 million, due largely to an increase in its provision for loan losses. Per-share earnings fell 16.7%, to 30 cents.

Two Chicago bankers took special satisfaction in the announcement last week that Bangladeshi banker Muhammad Yunus and his bank had won the Nobel Peace Prize for making microloans to the poor.

Provident Financial Services Inc. in Jersey City announced Monday that it would buy First Morris Bank and Trust in Morris Township, N.J., for $124 million.

Many of us dream of more glamorous careers — professional athlete, four-star chef, rock star — but Connecticut banker Mark E. Macomber is right where he wants to be.

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp's public offering might be nine months away, but investors are already betting it will be a big one.

Eastern Virginia Bankshares in Tappahannock reported a record $2 million of net income for the third quarter, up 16.7% from a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose 17.6%, to 40 cents.

Cascade Bancorp in Bend, Ore., said its third-quarter net income rose 70.4% from the same quarter last year, to $10.5 million, mainly because of the April acquisition of F&M Holding Co. in Boise, Idaho.

WASHINGTON - In the three decades that America's Community Bankers has been publishing its annual bank compensation and benefits survey, one consistent trend has been that executive salaries generally rise from year to year.

Industry consolidation has led to a merger of two more state banking trade groups.

Rurban Financial Corp. of Defiance, Ohio, announced that it had applied to its regulators to open a full-service branch in Fort Wayne, Ind.