NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Investors looking to get a piece of bank merger action -- in the wake of the proposed $58 billion stock purchase of Bank One by J.P. Morgan Chase -- bought up stocks of promising regional banks viewed as possible takeover targets Thursday.

"Stocks of apparent targets like Washington Mutual are going up," said McAdams Regan McKenzie analyst Jamelah Leddy. "That's what the market's telling us: These banks are targets."

Shares of Bank One (ONE: up $5.20 to $50.42, Research, Estimates) soared 12 percent while shares of J.P. Morgan Chase edged lower after the deal was announced late Wednesday. The shares of investment banks also rose as investors reasoned there might be more consolidation in that sector as well.

The merger is likely to spark a round of consolidation among other large regional banks, especially since it comes on the heels of the Bank of America-FleetBoston Financial merger, announced in October.

Wachovia (WB: Research, Estimates) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB: Research, Estimates) shares fell a bit Thursday while Wells Fargo (WFC: Research, Estimates) was little changed, a sign that investors see them as potential buyers.

Meanwhile, shares of Midwest-based banks that have been viewed as targets, including Keycorp (KEY: Research, Estimates), National City (NCC: Research, Estimates) and PNC Financial Services (PNC: Research, Estimates), all rose more than 2 percent. Shares of large southern regionals SouthTrust (SOTR: Research, Estimates) and SunTrust (STI: Research, Estimates) jumped 3 percent or more.

Smaller regional banks, including Charter One Financial (CF: up $0.93 to $34.00, Research, Estimates) and North Fork Bank (NFB: up $0.76 to $42.48, Research, Estimates) as well Comerica (CMA: up $2.93 to $56.30, Research, Estimates) and Commerce Bancorp (CBH: Research, Estimates), were winners as well. North Fork, Comerica and Commerce Bancorp all reported better than expected earnings Thursday, which contributed to their gains as well.

Washington Mutual (WM: up $1.14 to $41.81, Research, Estimates) shares also leapt, but it's considered to be in a higher bracket than most of the others. The company has a market value of nearly $40 billion so only a handful of banks would be able to pull off a deal for the Seattle-based savings and loan.

Nonetheless, Leddy said, "It's a target, that's what the market's saying."

What's common among most of these companies is a focus on consumer-driven products and services.

This fits neatly with Bank One CEO Jamie Dimon's love of marketing to consumers. Dimon has deployed a consumer focus most of his career, with excellent results. That's why even smaller regionals like Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ: unchanged at $21.00, Research, Estimates) of Portland, Ore., appeared attractive to investors betting on which banks might be bought out next.

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It should be noted that the first sign that some of the stocks were drawing interest from acquirers came last Friday, when Lehman Brothers analyst Brock Vandervliet released a report all but confirming that Bank One and J.P. Morgan were headed for the altar. Most of those stocks that spiked Jan. 9 also shot up again.

Another hot stock was Regional Bank Holders Trust (RKH: up $3.18 to $133.50, Research, Estimates), a bank stock fund featuring a passel of mid-cap banks. Shares of Regional spiked Jan. 9, kept going Wednesday and then powered ahead Thursday, trading near $134, up 2.5 percent in afternoon dealing.

Washington Mutual Inc., Comerica Inc. and Commerce Bancorp are among those that seem to be wearing "buy me" signs on their backs, according to industry analysts.

Washington Mutual, known as "Wamu," is by far the largest of the targets. It boasted an asset base of $287 billion as of Sept. 30 and has long since outgrown its West Coast base, spreading coast to coast with its home-mortgage and commercial lending focus.

Wamu would seem to have everything that Bank One's CEO wants: lots of branches, access to plenty of consumers and small businesses, and a strong West Coast presence.

Whether Dimon and J.P. Morgan's boss, William Harrison, can merge their organizations in time to make a run at Wamu remains to be seen. More likely, someone else -- perhaps Wachovia -- will try to beat them to the punch.

Comerica, a $55 billion-asset operation based in Detroit, also would seem to have a lot to offer a larger fish. It focuses on three areas: business, individual and investment banking.

It's got more than 500 branches, concentrated in Michigan, California, Florida and Texas but with beachheads in Canada and Mexico. Comerica has deposits exceeding $40 billion and another $40-billion-plus in loans in its portfolio.

Shares rose 5 percent in heavy trading, suggesting that investors were voting for a takeover.

Commerce Bancorp is slightly smaller, about $21 billion in assets, but you wouldn't know it from the interest it was generating Thursday. Commerce shares rose nearly 5 percent Thursday.

The Cherry Hill, N. J., bank is a holding company for four nationally chartered bank subsidiaries boasting 270 branches in four Eastern states. With a business and consumer lending focus, Commerce has grown to a market cap of $4.4 billion -- and into a glimmer in a big bank's eye.