Yep it would accelerate VBA being taken over by someone else -...

Yep it would accelerate VBA being taken over by someone else - both because VBA would want the protection of being part of another major and other majors would not want to allow a QAN-BA cohort to establish too much of an unrivalled foothold in a given region.

Its a bit like AFL - if you were in the top leage you know you've got to compete in the stadiums where the other majors play. If 2 strong teams combine - you look to combine yours with another team in the local market. It just naturally evolves towards being bigger survives better (although you'd probably wonder lately given Citibank's fortunes).

I just love watching VBA though - punters couldn't dump the stock fast enough yesterday, and today clambering all over each other to get in.....then we start a new day tomorrow. The big surprises are going to start when this range trading crap ends and it breaks up or down. That will catch everyone off guard :)