WASHINGTON – A serious lack of share inflow could not keep up with the industry's rapid loan growth leading to a down spiral for credit union investments in the third quarter of 2003 to $216 billion. Callahan & Associates Inc. reported even after a steady $64 billion growth stream over the previous 18 months, investments fell $6.9 billion in the third quarter largely due to strong increases in mortgage loans and used auto loans, which bolstered new loans to $13.5 billion, said Joe James, Callahan Corporate Associate. "At the same time, share growth was minimal at 1% for the quarter, James said. "With a lack of share inflow to fund these increasing loan balances, credit unions were forced to decrease their short-term investment holdings by $7.1 billion." James said credit unions should see an increase in interest income since they yield an average 6.9% on loans compared to 2.7% a on investments. [email protected]