It probably comes as no big surprise that Wells Fargo (WFC), one of the largest banking concerns in the US, well diversified in financial products across deposits, lending, credit cards, sales finance, and a smart mortgage originator, announced Friday that they had made a deal to purchase the entire Wachovia package for $15.4 Billion. The surprise comes with the fact it was five days late. The deal undercuts CitiGroup’s (C) announced purchased of part of the Wachovia (WB) operation, and does what CitiGroup could not do: completes the deal without Federal Funding.

I was shocked when I heard, since Wells had originally participated in negotiations last weekend along with CitiGroup. Wells evidently was able to use the week, in which a contract had not yet been signed, to perform additional due diligence, and came up with an offer Thursday evening.

Talking Heads:
No visible means of support and you have not seen nuthin yet
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The House of Representatives today passed the Senate version of the $700 Billion Bail-out.  For now, it’s over.  Bush signed the bill shortly after the vote, and we have not seen nuthin yet.
In case you haven’t noticed yet, the [...]

Our US Senators have approved a version of the $700 Billion Bail-out Bill that provides some new features:

New tax breaks for businesses
Raising the FDIC deposit insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000

Normally, I am all about tax breaks for businesses.  I think that is one of the best ways to stimulate growth.
And without a doubt, raising [...]

My cohort DJ is going to disagree with me.  Just you wait and see.
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Today did not scare me.  It did surprise me, because I didn’t think that Congress had the ability to face down the President, Treasury Secretary and their own part leaders all at the same time.  (For the votes [...]

This is Part 2 of the analysis of Friday night’s Presidential Debate.  Part 1 was posted on Saturday.
Iran
Lehrer asked for a “reading” of Iran by the candidates.  Are they a threat?  Both candidates made it very clear that nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran was not acceptable.
McCain did a good job of highlighting both [...]

Sorry, having computer issues and won’t get Part 2 of the Debate to you until Monday.  Look forward to an initial assessment of the Bailout Bill.  And a review of the new movie “Fireproof” that just opened this weekend.

From the New York Times late last night:
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative agreement early Sunday on what may become the largest financial bailout in American history, authorizing the Treasury to purchase $700 billion in troubled debt from ailing firms in an extraordinary intervention to prevent widespread economic collapse.
Officials said [...]

Here’s Part 1 of my assessment of Friday night’s Presidential Debate.  Part 2 will come on Sunday.
All I can say is, I was wrong.  Jim Lehrer does want to be the next Tim Russert.
I will say, I did not sense any partisanship on Lehrer’s part, but he sure dug into follow up questions, including a [...]

Congressional leaders are still working through what to do after the stony reception they received from the Administration late Wednesday.  I was much more comfortable (not that I was happy mind you) with the proposal that had been brought to Bush and Paulson.
The proposal from Congressional Leaders would have limited the amount of the initial [...]

I’m surprised there has not yet been a run on my bank.  The way that Bush, Paulson and Congressional Leaders are reacting to the liquidity angst on Wall Street would make you think there’s no money left, and we only have days or perhaps hours to get our money safely out of the hands of [...]