Wachovia, one of the more prominent banks that isn't based here in Philly but happily takes our money, just announced that it lost nearly $9 billion and is laying off 6,350 workers.
Do you think maybe this has something to do with it?
Wachovia has been suffering from its 2006 acquisition of Golden West Financial Corp. The bank paid roughly $25 billion for the California mortgage lender known for exotic loans.
The so-called "Pick-a-Payment" loans, which Wachovia inherited from Golden West, have proved a headache for the bank and a lightning rod for shareholders, defaulting at higher rates than other mortgages.
Wachovia recently discontinued offering the "Pick-A-Payment" loan option, which allows customers to pay a less-than-full interest payment on all new home loans. The bank also had hired The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to conduct an analysis of its loan portfolio and advise it on strategic alternatives.
Why does the world seem to go completely off its rocker every 100 years or so. It happened in 1914.
It's happening now.
Comment removed.
Ouch. When we were loan shopping back in the spring Wachovia tried to sell this product to us, even though it didn't make any sense due to our good financial standing and intent to pay in full each month. Wachovia's rates and fees were also high compared to other banks. I'm not sure how they're getting any mortgage business right now.— Politburo- We should have a central government committee to decide on all salaries for all people in the US. Why stop at CEO's. Athletes are really overpaid. Knock them down.— Ramon
- yeah because the govt would make everything fair? Clowns. Should we limit the amount of money small business owners make to. Or better yet limit the amount of money you make on inventions so no one is willing to take a risk and no progress is made. Yeah people had it great on the other side of the wall...— eichen18
- Well, he got part of the facts right. 8.9 billion was the official lose. But its all due to the Mortgage Dept. In fact the bank itself reported over a Billion in revenue. Get rid of the mortgage dept. Secondly, one bank gets taking over becuase of a numbskull claims on cnn. Indymac is one of 8500 banks in this country and it was its consumers who basically allowed FDIC to take it over. It was the consumers who withdrew over a billion in one week, for FDIC to step in.— Flyers2001
- Ramon - that is called COMMUNISM.— mondonj
- I should have used the sarcastic font as that was my tone. No one should have the government cap their earnings. I can't believe it's even a debate.— Ramon
- At the risk of a double post, (If the first one makes it through you'll see why I made the follow up). I guess that financial news is now supposed to be some sort of state secret, that consumers aren't cleared for. Who's to say the insiders at IndyMac wouldn't have pulled out their golden parachutes while smaller investors, blissful in their blankets of ignorance, didn't have an opportunity to bail out. Just like Enron.— SteveMG
- This is what happens when the executive branch sleeps for 8 years. Or a even worse thought would be when they allow this to get this out of a control so a few can profit. Yes a few people did profit heavily in 1914.— Zues
- As a follow up, since often I don't bother actually reading Will's posts (I just click on comments and see what's going on), this one was one of his gems. "Happily takes our money". Geez, what are they doing, taxing us? Depositors aren't getting paid interest? And that 100 years thing, that happened in 1914? Did the world go off it's rocker before then? But and pieces maybe, but no the world. I'm not even sure 1914 even qualifies as a worldwide off its rocker event. Maybe 40%, 50% if you'er generous. Even if you concede 1914 was a worldwide rockwer faller offer, didn't the world fall off it again only 21 years later, instead of a hundred? Take your time on the book.— SteveMG
"I can't believe it's even a debate." . . . . Ramon, you brought it up in response to LJL's observation about CEO salaries being constant even against massive bank losses. LJL didn't suggest there had to be a cap imposed by law, but it's certainly not communism for shareholders to demand such a cap in company bylaws, or even for consumers to vouice their frustration with those salaries. Are banks or any private enterprise immune from the free marketplace of ideas in which we all enjoy free speech?- Absolutely Correct Ramon - the government should not cap anyone's salaries. This is a market adjustment upon those very things. It will be painful for those of us in the middle, and VERY painful for those at the bottom but there will be a few (very few but they will be visible) that will literally lose millions upon millions. Then you give it a year or two after we hit the bottom and things will start to recover, this time with a new (private though encouraged by government), clean energy driven New Deal.— Bender
- Comment removed.
- "Get rid of the mortgage dept." . . . . . And how exactly would they do that? Wave a magic wand?
- "Huh? Whose money are they 'taking'?" . . . . . Yeah. I'm sure Wachovia keeps every Philadephian's money safely tucked in their own designated mattress. They don't do anything with that money at all, and every depositor can go there right now and take their mattress full of money back all at once. Yep, that's why we need an FDIC backed by taxpayer's money.
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Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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