Apr. 1--Oregon stocks had a generally dismal first quarter reflecting the weak economy and the ongoing struggles of the financial sector.

Banks made up five of the eleven poorest-performing Oregon stocks in the first quarter. Worst among them was Cascade Bancorp, which plummeted 73.6 percent in three months ending March 30. The Bend-based institution, parent of Bank of the Cascades, has been hard hit by the residential real estate meltdown in central Oregon and the Boise area.

Also suffering weak quarters were West Coast Bancorp of Lake Oswego (whose stock fell 64.9 percent,) Columbia Bancorp of The Dalles (down 57.4 percent,) Cowlitz Bancorp of Longview, Wash. (down 44.9 percent) and Portland-based Umpqua Bank (down 38.5 percent).

One company did worse than the banks. Monaco Coach, the bankrupt RV manufacturer, saw its stock nosedive 75 percent during the quarter, closing Tuesday at 15 cents a share. The Coburg company laid off most of its 2,225 employees and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early this month.

Navistar International Corp. is nearing a deal to buy Monaco's assets for $50 million, though it's unclear whether Monaco shareholders will realize any benefit from such a deal.

Investors have fled bank stocks across the country for obvious reasons. Many banks are struggling through the devastating recession and their own internal problems with toxic assets and bad loans.

Northwest banks bet heavily on residential development during the boom and are now paying a steep price as home and land sales continue to slow and developers fail to repay their loans.

"There's a lot of banks on the cusp of failure, so they're trading in the $1-$2 range," said Joey Warmenhoven, a community bank analyst for McAdams Wright Ragen in Lake Oswego. "I'm rooting for all these banks. It's not good for any of us when they go down. But it's a toss of the coin whether they can survive."

Three banks in the greater metropolitan area -- Pinnacle Bank, Silver Falls Bank and Bank of Clark County -- have failed since January.

Cascade Bancorp announced on March 13 that it was revising its 2008 earnings downward to reflect additional write-downs of goodwill and problem loans. The write-downs pushed the bank's losses from $21.2 million to $134.6 million.

It marked the second year in a row that Cascade was forced to revise earnings due to higher-than-expected loan problems.

"We are in serious times and actions will influence outcomes," said Patty Moss, Cascade CEO.

Moss went on to urge Central Oregonians to "keep their money local.