Wells Fargo: Smart Like Buffett
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.
Moral Hazard
If you’ve not read Daniel Henninger’s column in the October 2, 2008 edition of The Wall Street Journal, I encourage you to. In this column, Mr. Henninger defines the term “moral hazard”, particularly as it relates to Wall Street, Fannie Mae...Burning Down The [US] House
Talking Heads: No visible means of support and you have not seen nuthin yet ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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...VP Debate Video
In case you missed tonight’s debate, video courtesy of C-SPAN. Hat tip to fellow Swamp Stomper Sister Toldjah. Follow our comments in the Live Blog of the debate.Live Blogging The Vice Presidential Debate
We’ll be starting right at 9:00 PM Eastern. We look forward to your participation! I’m going to have to switch to using the comments section. I don’t know what the issue is but CoveritLive is apparently having issues tonight. Please feel free to...VP Debate Preview
We do plan to live blog tonight’s debate, so gather around tonight around 9:00 PM Eastern Time. I suspect tonight may be more influential to the election than last Friday’s debate between McCain and Obama. And hinges mostly on how well Palin looks. If...The Senate Strikes Back
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...Economic Healing
Today’s Wall Street Journal contains an op/ed by Brian Wesbury, one of the more level-headed and highly respected economists in the country. His recommendation is that Congress suspend mark-to-market accounting rules, because investors refuse to put money into...
Offshore Drilling Ban – Almost Expired
The ban on offshore drilling expires tonight at midnight Eastern Time. At this writing, that’s just five hours away. Congress was incredibly preoccupied during the weeks following its lengthy vacation, and could not (supposedly) get the work done to extend...Stay in Touch
