Bank Direct Magazine: “There is not much flash and glitz among this year’s crop of top-performing U.S. banks and thrifts. But given all that’s occurred in the last six months, maybe slow and steady really is the name of the game. In fact, over a recent 12-month period, as the credit and financial markets came unhinged and some of the country’s best-known depository financial institutions teetered on the brink of collapse, “steady at the helm” was the governing mantra for the highest-ranked banks. That is just one salient feature of this year’s class of top performers among banks and thrifts, according to our annual Bank Performance Scorecard. Based on measurement criteria and analysis compiled by Sandler O’Neill & Partners L.P., a New York-based investment banking firm that specializes in the financial services industry, the scorecard features the institutions that maintain top standing in good times and bad—often with recurring high scorers.”