Excluding its third world loans, the bank showed an improvement in loan quality.

Wall Street analysts seem agreeable; nobody asked about reserves or loan quality after the earnings report.

It was only a few years ago that virtually no big bank sold for more than book value, as everyone worried about loan quality.

The incident underscored that banks were not always the best judges of loan quality.

Analysts also voiced concern, as they have in the past, about loan quality.

Loan concentration wasn't the only problem; so was loan quality.

The bank continued to show an improvement in loan quality, an area that has caused considerable trouble in the past.

These agencies thus have an incentive to monitor originators and check loan quality.

S.&P. said the move reflected an "expectation of further moderate deterioration in loan quality."

Thanks in part to concerns about loan quality, the bank's stock has fallen as the economy has weakened.