Picture this. You’re world-renown bank analyst Dick Bové, famous for, among other things, issuing a report in summer 2008 about which banks were “next” to fail, not rolling over and taking it when Citigroup tried to screw you good, and standing by Ken Lewis when literally no one else (including his board) would. When you walk into rooms, people notice. More often than not, they ask you to pose for pictures, kiss their babies, sign their tits. Some have fainted in your presence. You’re the fifth Beatle, Justin Bieber, and George Clooney, all wrapped into one devastating little package. It should go without saying that an appearance by you at your local branch bank, to cash six-figure checks, as you often do, would be call for a red carpet and the crème de la crème of customer service, right? Apparently wrong. Read more »
Wachovia
Dick Bové: Wells Fargo Is Managed Great If You Don’t Take Into Account The Horrible Customer Service I’ve Received On Several Occasions, For Which Heads Should Roll
By Bess LevinWachovia Employee Admits To Convincing Clients To Put $14.1 Million In Wealth Management Fund Bank Didn’t Actually Offer
By Bess LevinLike most people who do these sorts of things, Linda Speaks Tribby had a good excuse, which is that she needed the money to buy a helicopter and a motor home, two purchases that seem slightly at odds but the heart wants what it wants. Read more »
Wachovia VP Had Good Reason To Steal Money From Bank That You’ll Probably Never Understand
By Bess Levin
Scott Welch's Den of Iniquity
With the money he embezzled from Wachovia ($11.2 million give or take a few clams), Scott Welch bought himself many a sports car. This was a plan, to throw people off the trail. He didn’t buy a new set of wheels “constantly,” as neighbors recall, in an attempt to hide the fact that he was stealing money from the bank, but to distract from what he was really putting the funds toward. A love that dare not speak its name. A love of plants, and impeccably maintained yards. Read more »
If you thought the SEC’s charges against Goldman Sachs poured fuel on an already-raging populace fire, Wall Street’s involvement in a massive bid rigging scandal in the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market will fan the flames even more.
Earlier this month, we heard about an SEC investigation of conflicts of interest at big banks that bought credit default swaps on muni bonds they sold to state and local governments. But Bloomberg is out with a big investigative piece today about a massive bid-rigging scandal in the muni market that, if true, bilked 160 state agencies, local governments and non-profits out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Read more »
I’m still trying to get my head around this: What does it mean when the stock you hold that is sitting at $6.00 per share posts a $11.00 per share loss? That’s is the Wachovia shareholder experience.
Punt.
Chief Executive Robert K. Steel said, “Although this has been a challenging quarter, Wachovia’s underlying businesses remain solid and our franchise exceptionally attractive.”
As we pointed out yesterday, we might be outraged, but nothing surprises us anymore. Seriously. Nothing. Really. We saw a cab drive by the other day dragging a burning Christmas tree behind it. Nothing. No bells. No whistles.
Ironically, their net loss of $23.7 billion looks suspiciously close to the $25.5 billion purchase price for Golden West Financial. Funny how that works.
Wachovia Swings to a $23.7 Billion Loss [Wall Street Journal]
Bear Stearns
IndyMac
Lehman Brothers
Washington Mutual
Wachovia
National City
National City Drops 52% as Market Wonders Who’s Next [CNBC]
Wachovia Begins Early Deal Talks With Citi [Dealbook]
You sort of knew that the Bangkok Bank Flu was going to hit the regionals and super regionals once they saw the haughty WaMu brought low. I suppose it means something that Dimon et. al. have made provisions for expensive refurbishing given that many WaMu branches don’t have vaults in them. That has to be some kind of indicator worth paying attention to. (Recommendation: A PIPE transaction with Fischet).
National City has broken the $3 floor, after a 40%ish drop, its paper probably on its way to the non-existent WaMu vault. Fifth/Third, which had been pretending not to notice for some time, is starting to notice. Wachovia took at 30% haircut. Wells Fargo, however, having been sprinkled with Magic Buffett DustTM is up 5%. That stuff bends space and time to such an extent that Steve Jobs might defacto have given up his monopoly on the Reality Distortion Field.TM
Update: Relax, Asian bankers. We weren’t suggesting another Thai currency crisis or anything. Just a highly virulent fiscal bug that is going around in the new center of American Finance: North Carolina.
Wachovia, National City tumble on bailout, WaMu news [Reuters]
New Wachovia CEO Robert Steel vowed to turn things around at the bank and he was not kidding. He started with morale boosting pep rallies and marshmallow tower building competitions, and now he’s moved on to a not even necessary capital raise that, while probably dilutive to current shareholders, is sure to wow the crowds with Bobby’s out of the box thinking, no doubt honed during his time at Goldman Sachs.
We did it! Bleeding out the ass Wachovia is now up nearly twenty five percent clearly due in large part to our pep-rally this morning. Fantastic jobs all around.
At this time, in light of Wachovia’s not so good second quarter, I want everyone to get up on his/her chair and shout “I love Wachovia,” while dancing, which is not only a team building exercise for WB first years but 95 percent of CEO Robert Steel’s master plan for pumping the stock. Unless of course you are planning on making some $$$ on what Bove thinks is an around the corner fall–lookin’ at you, Paulson–in which case, please proceed with your refrain of choice, “Let’s burn this motherfucker down.”
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SoFi Answers the Call to Refinance Student Loans and Provides Unique Community Benefits
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products: Read more »
You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
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