Showing posts tagged “Wachovia”
Matt Saldaña ·
19 Dec 2008, 3:44 PM ·
1 Comment
The News & Observer ran a one-source news story in today’s business section that reported on a meeting between “executives and journalists” at the paper and Mark Vitner, a Wachovia economist. The piece essentially consisted of Vitner’s prediction that the recession would last until mid-2009 (really?), and his admission that banks “fishtailed a little bit” due, in the reporter’s words, to “troubles that caused credit markets to stop functioning in the first place.”
The Progressive Pulse, the blog of NC Policy Watch, notes that the N&O story failed to mention that Wachovia played a significant role in those “troubles,” focusing instead of the ensuing credit crunch. As The New York Times reported in a story that ran pre-bailout, Wachovia was a key player in the housing bubble that went bust:
Wachovia has a $120 billion portfolio of mortgages loaded with adjustable interest-rate loans that allow borrowers to skip part of their monthly payments, much of which it inherited from its ill-timed acquisition of Golden West, the big California lender, at the end of the housing boom in 2006.
The Progressive Pulse is none too pleased that this bit did not make the N&O story, noting that it would be to Wachovia’s advantage to leave the phrase “subprime loans” out of the picture:
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North Carolina, economy, media financial crisis, Wachovia
Matt Saldaña ·
12 Dec 2008, 10:33 AM ·
Comment
Less than two months after it agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch & Co., Bank of America announced yesterday that it plans to cut between 30,000 and 35,000 jobs over the next three years. The Merrill Lynch merger, approved just one week ago by shareholders of both companies, is expected to close by the start of next year.
The Charlotte Observer quotes UNC-Charlotte economist John Connaughton weighing in on the relative impact of job losses at Wachovia and BofA:
“Bank of America has never had an overly large presence in Charlotte, given the size of the bank,” Connaughton said. About 5 percent of the combined company’s work force is based in Charlotte.
By contrast, the struggles of Wachovia — Charlotte’s other big bank, which is being sold to San Francisco’s Wells Fargo — will have a far greater impact locally, Connaughton said. That’s because Charlotte will lose a corporate headquarters, not just jobs, with Wachovia, and because Wachovia employs more people in Charlotte than Bank of America.
Bank of America said in a statement that the cuts would eliminate overlapping jobs related to the purchase of Merrill Lynch. The cuts are also related to “the current recessionary environment,” the bank said.
North Carolina, national Bank of America, financial crisis, Wachovia
Fiona Morgan ·
9 Oct 2008, 9:09 PM ·
Comment
Teetering on the brink of collapse, Wachovia is nevertheless loaning $8 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee for a last-minute campaign boost for House Republicans candidates. Facing South has this investigation.
national, politics elections, financial crisis, Wachovia
Bob Geary ·
3 Oct 2008, 9:52 AM ·
Comment
Hey, $7 a share is better than $2 a share. (Actually, our Wachovia Bank shares were worth nearly $4 when the market closed yesterday. Not the $58 of a year ago, but who’s counting.) Wells Fargo is merging with Wachovia in a deal that does sound better for Charlotte than Citigroup’s snatch-and-grab.
Update: Citigroup says, “Whoa, Nelly. We had a deal, and we’re fixin’ to hold you to it. Film at 11.
North Carolina, business Wachovia
David Fellerath ·
2 Oct 2008, 3:53 PM ·
Comment
Man, if the brand-new CEO of a company invests $16 million in his new employer’s stock, that’s got to be a vote of confidence, right?
Well, Bob Steel started his job in July, after Ken Thompson was run off after the purchase of Golden West he engineered in 2006 proved to be catastrophic. Steel signaled his belief in the healthy fundamentals of Wachovia by putting his money where his mouth was.
In July, Steel personally bought 1 million shares of Wachovia stock, paying just over $16 million.
“Wachovia is a great company, and I made the investment because I believe in the core strengths of the organization,” he said at the time.
At Wednesday’s close, those shares are worth about $3.55 million.
Steel won’t be getting a lucrative severance package, although he does hold options:
Steel’s employment agreement, struck in July when he joined the bank as chief executive, doesn’t call for severance payments.
In the case of a merger or acquisition, he could immediately exercise 1.5 million options to buy company stock. But those options would be worthless for now because the stock price is well below the option price of $9.08 a share.
The Charlotte Observer part of the N&O has more, including info on the luckier officials and their personal golden parachutes.
North Carolina, business, national Bob Steel, executive compensation, Ken Thompson, Wachovia
Bob Geary ·
29 Sep 2008, 2:54 PM ·
Comment
Bloomberg explains what happened overnight.
Excepts:
Wachovia will be left with its retail brokerage and Evergreen asset management units. The brokerage has about 14,600 financial advisers and more than $1 trillion under management, making it third in the U.S. behind Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup’s Smith Barney unit.
and:
The transaction is likely to hurt Charlotte, where Wachovia is the largest private employer with about 20,000 workers, said Michael Nix, portfolio manager at Greenwood Capital Associates LLC in Greenwood, South Carolina. The bank said today in a statement that the corporate headquarters will stay in Charlotte.
North Carolina, news Wachovia
Bob Geary ·
29 Sep 2008, 9:22 AM ·
1 Comment
From New Raleigh, word that the old Greenshields pub in City Market will be turned into Cobblestone Hall, a place for your wedding reception or bidness blowout. And at 213 Fayetteville Street, the Foundation will be another great place to forget that you ever owned Wachovia stock. Charlotte, you are now HQ to one mega-bank. The second one was rustled away to New York City.
Raleigh Raleigh City Market, Wachovia
