Investors are going after Merchants Bank stock as the revised plan is better than expected.

Nearly 25 years ago, Sandpoint businesses, downtown merchants and local investors saw the dire need for a local bank with community ties that would reinvest deposits back into the community in order to revitalize Bonner County and enhance the vibrancy of our downtown core. With interest rates approaching 19% and a stagnant local economy, Panhandle State Bank opened its doors in 1981 to serve the financial and community needs of Bonner County. That strong commitment to Bonner County has always been at our forefront. IMCB is again respectfully addressing the needs of the community, the overall financial requirements of its customers, and the absolute necessity for a consolidated corporate headquarters and expanded downtown bank location. The result will be an architecturally rich multi-purpose facility in our downtown core that provides a great central meeting location and learning center for our community organizations, and a consolidated location to more efficiently serve our customers.

With the stock trading at premium multiples and momentum investors exiting the stock, it may take some time ... to re-establish an upward trend.

I think that investors are very much in a wait-and-see mood at the moment ... with the Bank of Japan's policy meeting today and tomorrow.

We obtained sufficient capital to build a new plant through two large-scale syndicate bank loans in the second half of last year.

This is a brilliant move and I certainly never expected it. Now, investors are taking a hard look at some of the smaller steel companies, and frankly, many of these are pretty cheap.