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• The second graph does not appear to take provision for loan loss into account. Net interest margin before provision is not representative. You really need to look at it after and you will see why earnings are still suffering for many credit unions.

  Anonymous

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• Thank you for your comment. You are correct, provisions are not included; I tend to look at them as a separate item from the interest margin. Currently, provisions as a portion of average assets at year end 2009 were 1.12%, up from 0.87% last year. The suggestion was not that suffering is over for credit unions, but that there are favorable trends in the core model of how credit unions function. Looking at how these trends affect the bottom line, the average ROA for credit unions has improved to 0.20%, from 0.01% at year-end 2008. Times are still tough, but hopefully credit unions will look at this as a positive sign.

  Elliott Kashner

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