The widely usedsvs &agr; stability diagram for ballooning modes is based on the assumption of circular flux surfaces with small shifts. (Heres=rq’/qand &agr;=−R0q2&bgr;’.) This analysis is extended to include finite shifts. There again results a universal stability diagram, although in this case it is parametrized by three quantitiess, &agr;, and &sgr;’, the differential shift between flux surfaces. The analysis shows that the inclusion of a finite shift leads to a significant further stabilization of the ballooning modes over that from the standard case.