This is the reason there is insider buying. If you do not feel it is going anywhere - please short it.

The Bancorp (TBBK): The Bancorp is a nonbranch bank that gathers deposits through various private-label affinity partner programs nationwide and then originates small business and other commercial loans therein.

In The Bancorp's most-recent filing (which was late July), the company said: "Nonperforming loans at June 30, 2008 represented 0.63% of total assets compared to 0.58% of total assets at March 31, 2008".

So nonperforming loans only represent 0.63% of total assets. That is extremely low and a bullish sign for investors going forward. Nonperforming loans are just that: nonperforming loans that are 90 or more days late and ready to default.

There is a disconnect with The Bancorp's common stock, down about 75% for the year despite its extremely low NPL levels.

Still, even though The Bancorp grows at a 20% annualized rate and has only 0.60% of nonperforming assets/total assets and 0.12% nonconforming loans/total loans, The Bancorp trades substantially lower than its book value. This is due to the company's $350 million construction loan portfolio, which might be something to worry about. However, second-quarter 2008 appraisals came back at 5% above the original total underwriting levels, suggesting that the loans are doing better than the market believes.

With earnings historically back-end loaded due to increased merchant processing and the extremely low cost of the capital deposit base, it makes little sense how The Bancorp is sitting right on its 52-week low, trading for less than half its stated book value.

Stockpkr