Please, someone point out to me the source of the lead in the drinking water of senior banking executives. I ask because there really isn’t another way to explain a few things. Well, that is to say, unless these people are eating breakfast off Pewter plates from the Franklin Mint or something. I refer, of course, to this:
Wells Fargo & Co., which received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, is planning a series of corporate junkets to Las Vegas casinos this month.
Wells Fargo, once among the nation’s top writers of subprime mortgages, has booked 12 nights at the Wynn Las Vegas and its sister hotel, the Encore Las Vegas beginning Friday, said Wynn spokeswoman Michelle Loosbrock. The hotels will host the annual conference for company’s top mortgage officers.
The conference is a Wells Fargo tradition. Previous years have included all-expense-paid helicopter rides, wine tasting, horseback riding in Puerto Rico and a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for more than 1,000 employees and guests.
I mean… really? Really? This was a good idea to someone?
Company spokesperson says event is part of the bank’s culture.
A trip to Vegas? That I believe, actually.
“I was amazed with just how lavish it was,” said Debra Rickard, a former Wells Fargo mortgage employee from Colorado who attended the events regularly until she left the company in 2004. “We stayed in top hotels, the entertainment was just unbelievable, and there were awards — you got plaques or trophies.”
Is it me, or does it say something that the highlight of the event is the awards? I have to imagine the plaques were Pewter and looked a lot like dishware.
Bailed-out Wells Fargo plans Las Vegas junket [MSNBC.com]
Brilliant. Smart move. Choice time.
OK, people, let’s focus on Optics here. Even if it means putting part of the “culture” on hold until the storm subsides.
It’s not truly meaningful, and has probably been paid for for a long time. Nevertheless, the optics suck, you dumbasses.
first fuckstick that makes a ‘too something; didnt something’ is gonna get pistol whipped
no kidding, @3, whoever does that, it’s beyond annoying
too something, didn’t something.
*OUCH!*
Bravo, Wells. Bravo.
#3 Too threatening didn’t read
@3 you mean shenanigans?
too stick, didn’t fuck
too stick, didn’t fuck
Forehead Slapper, this post beckons you, do not ignore your calling!
I saw 3 and 4 in the bathroom giving each other hands jobs. They held each other and cried. It’s 4′s last day.
Be strong 3. Be strong.
Anyone have bonus numbers for WFC’s PR firm?
“Company spokesperson says event is part of the bank’s culture.”
Wells Fargo, once among the nation’s top writers of subprime mortgages, which received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, is planning a series of corporate junkets to Las Vegas casinos this month.
If you put yourself in the path of a moving bus then you’re going to get hit. You would think some of these idiots would figure this shit out by now.
I’ll go with LowA and give that PR idiot 2 weeks. Plenty of time to pack your desk.
SPODE
Uhhhh does no one remember that Wells Fargo initially REFUSED to take TARP money from that idiot Paulson, before it got shoved down their throats? If there aren’t any restrictions on how to use TARP money they don’t really need it, why not send a blatant fck-you to the idiots in Congress
Uhhhh does no one remember that Wells Fargo initially REFUSED to take TARP money from that idiot Paulson, before it got shoved down their throats? If there aren’t any restrictions on how to use TARP money they don’t really need, why not send a blatant fck-you to the idiots in Congress
at least #8 picked up on the reference.
That MSNBC article also mentions that Wells Fargo uses fortune tellers. Hmmm. Psychics, camel rides, gambling, chance, luck, and free gifts. Wells Fargo culture indeed.
One year, the company provided fortune tellers and offered camel rides, Rickard said. Every night when employees returned to their rooms, there was a new gift on their pillows, she said.
OK, I’m starting to close various accounts at WF (nee Wachovia) this month. This LV thing will accelerate the process. I thought the Wachovia guys were bad. Their “merger” partners are also barf bags.
“Part of the culture.” What the fuck does that shit mean. The bank aggressively pushed NINJA loans via their army of idiots with no skill set who were paid 6 figures to tell people, “don’t worry home prices always go up. You can refinance at a lower interest rate in 4 years.”
Absolutely!, that deserves an award. Only a matter of time before layoffs hit those fuckers too. It brings a smile to my face knowing these idiots carry some of the highest debt to income ratios out there.
Low Skill Set + High Income = Massive Debt
Enjoy Vegas.
@20 – Brilliant!
@15- If you think Wells Fargo will not need TARP money then you’re smoking crack.
Anal_yst and 1-2 wrote some great pieces on this. Deleveraging and The Classic Bear Trap.
http://1-2knockout.typepad.com/
they should ask the casinos to accept California IOUs as payment.
@16
Kovacevich is a hypocrite. See:
“Mr. Kovacevich is also said to have expressed concern about restrictions on executive compensation at banks that receive capital injections. If he steps down from Wells Fargo after completing a planned takeover of Wachovia, he would be entitled to retirement benefits worth about $43 million, and $140 million in accumulated stock and options, according to James F. Reda & Associates, a executive pay consulting firm. Pay experts say the new Treasury limits would probably not affect his exit package.”
He was more concerned about his pocket than his bank getting a bailout.
The whole “it was forced down our throats” complaint was for show, so they could then go and do as they pleased to “preserve their culture” and the executive’s fat pay.
I hear Ken Lewis will be there trying to win his legacy back at the blackjack table.
Too bad the dealer is a NY Banker
what happens in vegas . . . usually results in bankruptcy or divorce
Citi just sent some of their people to Vegas a week or so ago.
Also, why are they rewarding mortgage loan officers? Nothing but overpaid paper pushers.
once again I ask: why the fk is wells trading at 2.8x bac’s market cap? wtf? these guys are just as toxic as bankofamerrillwide!
someone, anyone, please tell me what qualifies a person to be a top mortgage broker at wfc? I didn’t originate any bad loans, so that should make me more profitable to the stage coach than half of the court jesters that will be going to vegas…
They need the TARP money to clean up WB, not for their own issues.
The “hicks” from San Francisco and Minnesota were smart enough to stay out of investment banking. I guess we cannot say the same for other retailers.
this just in, wfc is “reconsidering” the event…
@29 – we’ll see how it pans out for WFC. They are not out of the woods yet. And they have some heavy exposure in some of the worst areas.
28 / 29 WFC also has an excellent asset management division. And, for what its worth, I believe they still maintain a AAA debt rating.
A similar institution is PNC: own 1/3 of Blackrock, great franchise, limited exposure to crap. Getting tarred by what they inherited from NCC. People forget they’re also getting a good Florida franchise with the crap.
does anyone remember the 370 million dividend they paid the govt yesterday?
props to #16
@28 – don’t get pissed cause your short isn’t working out
@32 – you’re kidding right? do you remember u.s. trust? how about neuberger berman? it’s not about the good stuff, it’s about all the toxic stuff that they own, yet fail to mark down. these guys still hold those pick-a-pay mortgages at more than 50% of their original value. last I checked sub-prime loans were 50% delinquent or forclosed. seems to me there is more pain to come. further, they should not be trading at higher multiple than jpm which is at 0.75x book (wfc is at 1.15x – if you belive book)…
35 The WFC asset management division is the old Strong mutual fund family, plus some top notch institutional managers. Nothing like US Trust. (Although they own Lowry Hill and will be inheriting Offit Bank from WB, which are similar to US Trust). The toxic stuff, which came from World Savings, is marked down significantly. Could be more problems, but the valuation takes that into account and more. This is not a bank that’s going to topple, yet its priced like it could.
@36 – c’mon man, get off the kool-aide.
“This is not a bank that’s going to topple, yet its priced like it could.”
wfc market cap – $78 billion
bac market cap – $28 billion
call me crazy, but exactly who’s priced like they can topple? remember golden west financial? those loans didn’t disappear – they are still firmly on wfc’s books, waiting, patiently, to be marked down to their true value. even the mgmt presentation noted that the pick-a-pay mortgages had a ltv of 133%! the carrying value is 85% of the stated value of the “non-impaired loans” which totaled $58 billion. you mark that down by 25% and you take $14.5 billion away from the equity – that leaves tangible common of of $22 billion, dropping the tcr to 1.73% (for the record, jpm is at 3.41% and bofa is at 2.83%). looks a little thin to me…
@22 – The fact that they may (or may not) need TARP money at this point is moot- there was no indication that they needed it at the time or the threat of massive Gov’t regulated comp for executives. Paulson forced them to take money to circumvent the issue of stigmata
@24 – I quote from your quote “Pay experts say the new Treasury limits would probably not affect his exit package.” … so why would Kovevich care. L2R
yea populists rule, just like after 911, when we threw our bill of rights under the bus –>let’s throw our system of capitalism away—why reward the best people in an organization? let’s pay everyone the same in every company regardless of performance…
@38
Easy answer, he didn’t have the pay experts sitting in that meeting with Paulson. That’s an after-the-fact opinion obtained by the NYT. In that meeting he was more scared about his pay than anything else. The other guys were on with the program from the start.
you guys are idiots
I love that it’s a “former” employee who prolly made $10 an hour “ratting” on WFC…lavish to him/her is likely glass drinkware
interesting that everyone is crying about the $25 billion “bailout” but as one person mentioned the money wasnt free. it wasnt a gift to wells fargo. wfc just paid a $300+ million dollar dividend payment to the govt (for those of you too stupid to know what that means…think of it like an interest payment on a loan). wells fargo has to pay the fed govt a 5% preferred dividend for 5 years and then 9% after that if the money is not paid back. explain to me again where the taxpayer is losing with wells fargo?? i havent seen Bank of America or Citibank announce they are paying their dividend payment nor JP Morgan Chase (although I’m sure JPM will pay).
@42
What are you talking about? They got a much better deal than doing business with Buffett ala Goldman Sachs and the 10% dividend. All of them are wards of the state now. They didn’t have any other option if they wanted to survive. And still the US Taxpayer is at risk.
Wells Fargo has a bad case of Wachovia indigestion. They needed the TARP money and they will need more. And if they had rejected it, big shareholder lawsuits against Kovacevich were going to follow.
And with their indigestion, they are going to need new government money.
No more posturing from this guy…
The ASF Asset Securitization Forum conference is in vegas at the same time. The Wynn is offering discounts. Last year, they had an awesome super bowl party paid for by countrywideumtaxpayers, whole ballroom in venetian thousands of people, all you could eat food and drink blowout. The chocalate mousse was great. Best of all the $3k conference is free if you could claim to be interested in buying securitized products which all are of course :)