1.   Amid a hurricane of buyouts and mergers in the financial world, banks are struggling to position themselves for competitiveness into the next millenium.

2.   Banks are already struggling to solve their bad loans problems.

3.   Banks are struggling to come up with the right balance of online and brick-and-mortar services.

4.   But banks still struggle in making loans to Hispanics.

5.   But in an age when banks are struggling to fend off non-bank competitors, few dispute the need for new solutions.

6.   Faced with a shrinking pool of customers, banks are struggling just to get people through the door.

7.   If this continues, the pure investment banks may struggle to stay independent.

8.   In the meantime, banks are struggling to keep their heads from dipping below the waves.

9.   Investment banks have always struggled to reconcile their roles as tough-minded analysts and smooth-talking salespeople.

10.   Industrial and other companies serving a shrinking domestic market would not give banks much new loan business, and some banks would struggle just to stay solvent.