[quote][t]http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-CG286_BAKKEN_16U_20141116165125.jpg[/t]
BISMARCK, N.D.—It is more profitable than Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has a better credit rating than J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and hasn’t seen profit growth drop since 2003.
Meet Bank of North Dakota, the U.S.’s lone state-owned bank, which has one branch, no automated teller machines and not a single investment banker.
The reason for its success? As the sole repository of the state of North Dakota’s revenue, the bank has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the boom in Bakken shale-oil production from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. In fact, the bank played a crucial part in kick-starting the oil frenzy in the state in 2008 amid the financial crisis.
When other banks around the U.S. were curtailing lending and increasing reserves, Bank of North Dakota helped smaller banks in the state ride out the crisis by providing them with letters of credit, loan sales and bank stock. Since then, its total assets have more than doubled, to $6.9 billion last year from $2.8 billion in 2007. By contrast, assets of the much bigger Bank of America Corp. have grown much more slowly, to $2.1 trillion from $1.7 trillion in that period.
Much of that growth has been fueled by surging deposits of mineral-rights royalty payments and taxes stemming from North Dakota’s leap from the country’s sixth-largest oil producer to its second largest over the past five years. The bank taps those coffers to extend loans for new businesses, infrastructure such as hospitals and purchases of new homes, all of which have seen increased demand as oil workers flock to the state.
Set up in 1919 under a socialist-oriented government that represented farmers frustrated with out-of-state commodity and railroad owners, the bank treads a fine line between the private and public sectors in what today is a solidly Republican state. It traditionally extends credit, or invests directly, in areas other lenders shun, such as rural housing loans.
The bank’s mission is promoting economic development, not competing with private banks. “We’re a state agency and profit maximization isn’t what drives us,” President Eric Hardmeyer said. At the same time, he said “it’s important to me that we show a respectable bottom line” to taxpayers, noting that the bank historically has returned profits to the state’s coffers.
Its profit, which hit $94 million last year, has grown by double-digit percentages annually since 2010. Return on equity, a measure of profitability, is 18.56%, about 70% higher than those at Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. To be sure, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are much larger institutions with more complex balance sheets.
North Dakotans can open a personal account at the bank’s only branch in downtown Bismarck, the state capital. But the bank offers few of the perks offered by traditional lenders and says retail banking accounts for just 2%-3% of its business. The bank’s focus is providing loans to students and extending credit to companies in North Dakota, often in partnership with smaller community banks.
Bank of North Dakota also acts as a clearinghouse for interbank transactions in the state by settling checks and distributing coins and currency. “We get compared to a little, mini Federal Reserve” on the prairie, said Mr. Hardmeyer, who has led the bank for nearly 14 years.[/quote]
[url=http://online.wsj.com/articles/shale-boom-helps-north-dakota-bank-earn-returns-goldman-would-envy-1416180862]Wall Street Journal[/url]
KEKEKEKEKEKEKKE Strength from the Soil, motherfuckers!
Dakota... more like Dat Quota.
Great.. And... How many people did they step on to achieve that goal..
People live in North Dakota?
[QUOTE=Killergam;46534780]Great.. And... How many people did they step on to achieve that goal..[/QUOTE]
No one. North Dakota has a very local economy, and has fought against numerous intrusions by outside influences from taking over. For example, Measure 7 would of taken away ownership of North Dakotan Pharmacies from North Dakotans, and almost every NoDak'er told Walmart and friends to get fucked.
I've spoken with a lot of people who live in North Dakota and aside of the occasional unbearable winter storm, it's one of the best places to live from what I've been told. It's no surprise people are looking to move there to try and get a slice of the pie.
You barely ever hear news from North Dakota and South Dakota.
uh this is really just a small scale equivalent to those shithole countries that have double or triple digit GDP growth because they stumbled upon some oil or other extractive resource
[editline]20th November 2014[/editline]
i mean, i'm happy for n dakota but the comparison to wall street is apples vs oranges
We get recruiters where I reside trying to get people to work for Walmart in ND.
Offers full benefits and $15/hr for the standard cashier/stocker
[QUOTE=Code3Response;46535270]We get recruiters where I reside trying to get people to work for Walmart in ND.
Offers full benefits and $15/hr for the standard cashier/stocker[/QUOTE]
Walmarts are desperate here last time I checked. Namely because most of the blood that's coming here is either working the oil fields or picking up jobs as farmhands. No one wants to stick in the cities, they want to have a nice slice of North Dakotan land along the Missouri or Saskatchewan Lake, and settle nicely into retirement.
I've hear from someone who lives in South Dakota that a company in his town was paying for people to move for their job openings. And the company doing the hiring was one which made oil transportation pipes.
occupy bank of north dakota
[QUOTE=Medevila;46535300]Yea ND is totally equivalent to whatever third-world "shithole countries" you're referencing[/QUOTE]
congrats for not understanding the point of my post
If any of you guys are now interested in looking at North Dakota for work, feel free to browse [URL="http://www.bismanonline.com/"]our local Craigslist.[/URL] You'll probably get lucky and find a few companies willing to house you up in hotels for a few months while you get settled in.
and because I love this logo so much:
[t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Coat_of_Arms_of_North_Dakota.svg/200px-Coat_of_Arms_of_North_Dakota.svg.png[/t]
[QUOTE=YourFriendJoe;46534828]People live in North Dakota?[/QUOTE]
Yes, but not people like you and me. They're [I]different[/I].
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;46535445]If any of you guys are now interested in looking at North Dakota for work, feel free to browse [URL="http://www.bismanonline.com/"]our local Craigslist.[/URL] You'll probably get lucky and find a few companies willing to house you up in hotels for a few months while you get settled in.
and because I love this logo so much:
[t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Coat_of_Arms_of_North_Dakota.svg/200px-Coat_of_Arms_of_North_Dakota.svg.png[/t][/QUOTE]
Finding an employer that would do that would be amazing.
[QUOTE=Kite_shugo;46535675]Finding an employer that would do that would be amazing.[/QUOTE]
Almost every oil, farming, engineering, and computer company over here will do that for you. My father was in a hotel for roughly five months, and IIRC some other North Dakotan FP'ers who came here for work got the same treatment.
My uncle and cousin moved up here to work on generators in the oil fields and are basically being put up by the company too.
[QUOTE=Smoot;46535155]You barely ever hear news from North Dakota and South Dakota.[/QUOTE]
Because very little happens. At least, as far as national news worthy things go. The oil boom is probably the most significant thing to happen in years. And even then, that's "old news".
While it's great news for ND, when you consider the actual money ranges it seems less impressive.
[quote]
When other banks around the U.S. were curtailing lending and increasing reserves, Bank of North Dakota helped smaller banks in the state ride out the crisis by providing them with letters of credit, loan sales and bank stock. Since then, its total assets have more than doubled, to $6.9 billion last year from $2.8 billion in 2007. By contrast, assets of the much bigger Bank of America Corp. have grown much more slowly, to $2.1 trillion from $1.7 trillion in that period.
[/quote]
Sure the BND assets more than doubled. They're still a drop in the barrel for the big guys.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;46535290]Walmarts are desperate here last time I checked. Namely because most of the blood that's coming here is either working the oil fields or picking up jobs as farmhands. No one wants to stick in the cities, they want to have a nice slice of North Dakotan land along the Missouri or Saskatchewan Lake, and settle nicely into retirement.[/QUOTE]
When my brother lived in Minot, you could pretty much get any job you wanted for well above minimum wage. They built restaurants in advance of the expected oilman boom that had no employees for awhile.
[QUOTE=Code3Response;46535270]We get recruiters where I reside trying to get people to work for Walmart in ND.
Offers full benefits and $15/hr for the standard cashier/stocker[/QUOTE]
I took this a while ago in the Williston Walmart;
[img]http://i.imgur.com/WVEYk87.jpg?1[/img]
North Dakota isn't so bad
That's impressive, but what's the cost of living up there like?
If a hamburger and some fries wind up costing me $10, then it makes sense that local wages have kept up.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;46537461]That's impressive, but what's the cost of living up there like?
If a hamburger and some fries wind up costing me $10, then it makes sense that local wages have kept up.[/QUOTE]
Meat and milk are a little more pricey during the winter, but during in the fall, autumn, and spring almost everything is dirt cheap.
Overall the cost of living surmounts to housing, and with how the housing market is starting to work itself out, it's becoming pretty easy to find an apartment and such.
I would also recommend picking up hunting if you come here. Animal pelts can sell anywhere from $15 to $200 depending on the animal, and it tends to be a good way to make money in the winter.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;46537461]That's impressive, but what's the cost of living up there like?
If a hamburger and some fries wind up costing me $10, then it makes sense that local wages have kept up.[/QUOTE]
Rent is expensive, we pay $2000 a month for a 3 bedroom apartment, and that is really cheap for this town. A buddy of mine just signed a lease today for a $1900/month single bedroom apartment.
When I first moved here I payed $500 a month to share a room
You two silly geese live in the western/middle part of the state. Us Easterners live it easy.
[QUOTE=YourFriendJoe;46534828]People live in North Dakota?[/QUOTE]
Occasionally.
This is kind of silly; the whole point they are "doing better" on ROE is because they don't have an investment division, so they rode out the financial crisis with no problems. The big banks are much more variable and either reinvest their profits or cash out big time. Anyone who's taken a basic finance course could tell you that.
I mean, there's absolutely nothing wrong with what they're doing, but that's because they aren't as self-serving as the big guys.
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