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From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com
Organization: American Cybercasting
Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com
Subject: Companies In The Leading Industry
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 12:56:07 EST
Message-ID: <8.1992Nov16.125608@AmeriCast.com>

11/16/92


TITLE Companies In The Leading Industry #m#gm#m#National City A
Leader In Midwest Bank Group


One of the best-performing indexes a few months ago, the Banks -
Midwest group has been passed up recently by technology and re-
tail stocks. Ranked ninth among 197 industry groups 10 weeks ago,
the index as of two weeks ago fallen to 38.  Not that it has been
a poor performer. As of Thursday, the 92-stock index had gained
26.5% since the beginning of the year. The Standard & Poor's
500-stock index, by comparison, was up 1.4%.

Acquisitions have been responsible for the most striking gains.
National City Bancorp gained six points, or 50%, at the end of
last month when Metropolitan Financial Corp. said it planned to
buy the Minneapolis- based bank for $108 million.  But the 160%
rise this year from Irwin Financial Corp. has been the result of
old-fashioned earnings growth. Based in Columbus, Ind., the bank
has put together a string of profit gains during the past two
years.  Profits climbed 104% in the first quarter of this year
and were followed by a 65% increase in the second and a 90% jump
in the most recent period.  The rise in Irwin's stock has been
accompanied by small but consistent insider buying, a bullish
sign that the people most familiar with the company are optimis-
tic.

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