by Art Smith
At least good news for taxpayers... CitiGroup has backed out of talks for Wachovia leaving the entire deal for Wells Fargo. I'm guessing that after more of the depth of bad debt came to light, it became more and more obvious that the deal just was not longer going to be in the best interest of CitiGroup's stockholders.
That was the good news, as long as...
by Art Smith
After a weekend of back and forth, one judge's order to stop Wells and Wachovia from proceeding on Saturday, and appellate court overturning that order on Sunday, and a $60 Million CitiGroup (C) suit against both Wells Fargo (WFC) and Wachovia (WB), the three parties have agreed to a temporary halt to all litigation and discovery until Wednesday at noon.
Which just demonstrates the fallout that can be expected as the government (in this case, the FDIC) strong-arms companies to act, no matter how imprudently, to prevent the government from stepping in and (in this case) taking yet another bank into receivership.
by Art Smith
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.
by Fersboo
I have to admit, my thoughts regarding the latest financial debacles waver from one extreme to the other. My initial instinct is that the markets need to be stabilized, and anything that provides a floor for a stock market in apparent free fall is a good thing. My...
by Art Smith
On Sunday I shared some initial thoughts about the Fed take-over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you read it, you know I’m not exactly happy about the outcome. My friend Bithead shared some great thoughts Monday, and I don’t disagree that something...