Wachovia has $8.9-billion loss, cuts 6,350 jobs, dividend

[drumminscott]

How the heck does a bank lose 9billion dollars??? They hire Ivy league grads with MBA's and I bet these aren't the people losing their homes or losing their jobs! Bunch of idiots. Oh yeah..are we blaming this on Bush too!

[seniorauthor]

To Old Curcumdgeon:

You got it have right. First, the sub prime lenders entered into the picture in l995 during the clinton administration. They got really sophisticated until 2000 and then Bush was elected and the sub prime lenders just kept on trucking. Unfortunately, Bush was hit with 9/11 just eight months after he got into office and we all know what Clinton was doing the last two years of his tenure. The reason we had five years of good economy if that is what you want to call it you have to understand that neither the clintons or the Bushes wanted to stop the freight train of prosperity so the Democrats allowed the birth of the sub prime lender and the Bush's just had to go until the whole thing crashed. Now, having said that, just remember, it was the administrative people in both administrations that caused the mess, your know, the regulatory agencies who did not perform proper audits and did nothing to stop it. Greenspan who started with Reagan, went on with Clinton and into the Bush administration said when he was told about the impending danger of the sub prime loans - "I didn't think it was significant". Unbelievable. First of all, he should have caught this kind of situation on his own, but he didn't. He was forewarned and that is what is so sad about this fiasco. Assuming of course that Clinton and Bush would have allowed him to stop the freight train of prosperity. So you see, that five years was boosted by the poor loans that were made to people who could not afford the homes in the first place. And Obama says he is going to correct the situation. So what does he do. He hires Johnson of the FNMA family to advise him about who the VP should be. Please. Also, the whole thing will have been worked out before the old (young boy) ever takes office. I have to wonder why he did not advise all of hte people he was working with while he was doing community work in Chicago about these types of loans and their danger. That is how astute he was as no one was there to tell him what was going on so he could explain it to the people. The inventory of homes of course will probably remain throughout the next year. WE will see.

[Wondering]

Walts fan wrote:

<quoted text> I've been in the retail sector for 25 years and had a consistent surge of business until 9/11.Better business when a Democrat was in office.We had a great 3 months of business after 9/11 selling Patriotic merchandise,but since then it's gotten worse every year since 9/11.

Does this mean you are hoping for another terrorist attack so you can sell your patriotic items. With patriots like you, we don't need enemies.

[Customer]

Walk Over Ya is doing just fine. The ATM worked this morning and even gave me a receipt.

[fltom]

Olga Fugusev wrote:

<quoted text> And when Mr.Obama gets elected he will wave his magic change stick and sprinkle everything with magic change fairy dust and everyone will have a million dollars and they will have to share their wealth with everyone else and it will just be one big utopia!

I suppose it doesnt bother you that everyone in this current administration has increase their net worth probably 10 times while the average Joe has put up with bad economy, high gas prices a mortgage crisis, average people have economically suffered, and you will now pay for Bush and Cheneys retirement package and security for the rest of their lives when they dont need dime one.You can talk about someone that wants to make a change with such disdane yet we have all had our pockets and the pockets of our grandchildren picked clean by people that have spent their entire lifetimes filthy rich. I cant believe that people still defend this administration, thats the scary part of our country right now, Just like sheep.

[Totally disgusted]

old curmudgeon wrote:

<quoted text>Actually when Bush took over we were still in the Dotcom bust and then the economy soured for awhile after 9/11. Until the recent mortgage crisis we have had a 5 years of a growing economy. Get your facts right.

Amen-People seem to forget that fact. They also seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that we have a Congress that is run by Democrats.

[lab-rat]

Gary wrote:

<quoted text>
No, but expect to take twice as long to get anything done with them. That includes in the banking lanes for cars!

That's why god invented ATMs.

[nicole]

so what happens to current mortgage holders if Wachovia goes down?
b.t.w., if you bank with Wachovia, get your money out now. If they shut down, it can take YEARS to get your money back by the FDIC.

[Financial Advisor]

nicole wrote:

so what happens to current mortgage holders if Wachovia goes down?
b.t.w., if you bank with Wachovia, get your money out now. If they shut down, it can take YEARS to get your money back by the FDIC.

You will still need to make your mortgage payments. In fact they might call in the loans early for people like you who encouraged depositors to withdraw their money !

[nicole]

How can an institute so big call in loans early? You would think banks would readily help homeowners stay in their homes rather than showing losses. Anyway, I don't bank with W. I see by title you know all about the finanical market. I'm simply an underpaid teacher.

[Gary]

lab-rat wrote:

<quoted text>
That's why god invented ATMs.

Let's see when the auto lanes are full because there is only one person behind the window. Everyone uses the one (1) ATM which causes the waiting line to be 4 times longer than usual at the ATM. Me thinks that also could be called waiting longer.

[Mtg Brkr Pedophiles]

Daniel C Prudhomme wrote:

Good points made. I worked well with Golden West Financial under the name of World Savings in the mortgage business. I offered their exotic mortgages as a mortgage broker and continue to be proud that I made them available. They were not for everybody but for some, they fit the circumstances very well. For those who would have been obvious foreclosures, I didn't offer them. There were some that I wouldn't refinance at all under any circumstances. One lady wanted to pay off delinquent credit cards by refinancing her home that was six years away from being paid off. I refused to offer her any mortgage product. Washington Mutual was more than happy to help her. For another, her daughter was 5 years away from graduating high school and then she was selling the house. I refinanced her.(After 5 years, you're at a breakeven point of what you borrowed.)Another was SAVED from foreclosure by this exotic mortgage because it acted as a deferred payment mortgage product until she could sell the house a year later like she was planning. Without this mortgage product, the sheriff would have been knocking on the door. After Wachovia's purchase of Golden West, the service and dependability went down the drain. The should have lit a match to $25B. As World Savings, the mortgage product required 20 percent down, good credit, their rate was tied to what the lender paid out in the deposit accounts (example: If World Savings paid out 1% on a savings account, then the rate would be 1% plus 3.7% margin totaling 4.7%) The lifetime cap was 11.95% and as long as you paid the minimum amount due each month, you were on track to be paid off in 30 years. They had a "hard" prepayment penalty of 2% on any amount over $5,000 in one month in addition to your regular payment. The rate of 2.95% was never the rate. It was a reflection of the payment. Any amount between 2.95% and the amount that they should have paid, for example 5.75%, then that amount was added to the end of the loan. Each year for the first 5 years, your "payment" increased by 7.5%, for example,$1,000 increased to $1,075. Then the second year, it increased to 1,155.63. Third year,$1,242.30. Fourth,$1,335.47. Fifth,$1,435.63. Buyers knew what they were signing on for if they had an ethical broker. If they didn't have an ethical broker, then go after the broker but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I mention these points because for those that feel burned, they probably got burned by an unethical broker, not by the product itself. The product itself has much to be proud of. And Wachovia should stand by the product because it will make a return in a revised fashion and Wachovia will be sorry that they ditched it. World Savings provided an alternative way to creatively purchase a home and even told brokers during seminars that this program is for someone who will typically stay in the home for at least seven years. It was not a program of 100% financing, we-don't-care-what-you-make, we-don't-care-what-you-have-in -the-bank, we-don't-care-about-your-credi t, we-don't-care-about-anything. This product deserves more respect and anybody who knows about mortgages would agree.

World's "pic a pay" mortgages were a scam. Mortgage brokers who sold scam mortgages including ARMs are a bad as pedophiles. A lot of them got very rich off that toxic crap. As long as they ripped the consumer and made 3 points off the mortgages - they were happy.

[bbbbb]

Wachovia's online banking is one of the most user-friendly out there.
If you need cash, buy a pack of gum and ask for cash back at the store. No fees. No ATM line.
I just don't understand why people get near banks these days when they don't have to.

[Totally disgusted]

nicole wrote:

How can an institute so big call in loans early? You would think banks would readily help homeowners stay in their homes rather than showing losses. Anyway, I don't bank with W. I see by title you know all about the finanical market. I'm simply an underpaid teacher.

Wow-telling people to pull their money out of the bank! Let's cause panic and a run on the bank. Give me a break. You are apparently an overpaid teacher. Where do you teach? I may need to pull my children and put them in another school.

[nicole]

totally disgusted...(very grumpy)
I teach in FL, which, by the way, is on the lowest end of the educational totem pole. Want to give your children a fantastic edcuation?

B.T.W., keeping a savings/checking account doesn't allow for your money to work for you. On average, you earn 2%, whcih is nothing. Float the credit system. Use your credit line or card to pay for bills and then turn around and pay that sucker off before the 30 day limit. You don't pay interest and you get the rewards.

LOL...although teachers (like me) earn significantly less for the amount of hours we put into a week, I know I make a difference in the lives of students who give a damn.

[6 actual]

Anger Management wrote:

So why in the world is their stock higher today?

Because the brokers knew in advance that the gov't was going to bail 'em out. Called insider trading. Remember Martha Stuart??

[ohno]

nicole wrote:

so what happens to current mortgage holders if Wachovia goes down?
b.t.w., if you bank with Wachovia, get your money out now. If they shut down, it can take YEARS to get your money back by the FDIC.

Wachovia is NOT going to shut down. Geez, get a brain already! They will re-organize, get rid of a large chunk of their workforce and keep on running.

[nicole]

The circle of life. More people jobless, more forclosures, more losses in their books. They'll be in over their heads. If banks are repossessing property, they should at least maintain it. Abandonedness is an eyesore and brings the market down further.

[Augie]

ohno wrote:

<quoted text>
Wachovia is NOT going to shut down. Geez, get a brain already! They will re-organize, get rid of a large chunk of their workforce and keep on running.

More likely they will be taken over by another bank.

[ohno]

Augie wrote:

<quoted text>More likely they will be taken over by another bank.

That may be possible, but I doubt it. There really isn't any other bank in a good financial position that could even make a respectable offer. Unless of course it is a foreign bank, maybe european. The european banks are in far better standing than US banks, even though there is a mortgage crisis in Europe as well, just not as bad as it is here. In time, there will probably be just a couple very large national banks. The days of the community bank are quickly coming to an end.