Thread: Anyone Know A Wachovia Employee??

Originally Posted by funwit

Seaview, I see waht you are saying. Neno's response to mediahound left me puzzled. I was reading what was highlighted in RED. It would appear that neno was referring to that statement.. I don't know!!!!

Me too. Thank you funwit - now I understand.. ...thought I was going mad.

Originally Posted by Seaview

Am I the only one here who understands what I mean?

May there are some things that can not be posted. lol. Then Maybe this was intended for you, lol. Then again, maybe you read into it to much, lol. Then maybe just maybe, you figured me right.... Its All good Seaview.

Originally Posted by neno

May there are some things that can not be posted. lol. Then Maybe this was intended for you, lol. Then again, maybe you read into it to much, lol. Then maybe just maybe, you figured me right.... Its All good Seaview.

Lol - ok. I think I can work that out.

Originally Posted by Seaview

Lol - ok. I think I can work that out.

Originally Posted by Seaview

Lol - ok. I think I can work that out.

If Google had a Nenoesse translator we might be able to understand you better. Or at least I would.

No offense Neno my friend. It take me what seems like forever to write a few sentences.

Wachovia looks to West for growth
California purchase part of push to match rival Bank of America
Saturday, May 05, 2007

The Post and Courier, Charleston SC | Charleston.net | Stories

By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS





CHARLOTTE, - When Wachovia Corp. spent $24.2 billion last year to acquire Golden West Financial Corp., investors weren't at all thrilled by the bank's pickup of a company focused on the declining mortgage finance business.

Shares in the Charlotte-based bank dropped 7 percent the day the deal was announced, and several analysts downgraded Wachovia's stock. But there was more to the deal than adding Golden West's mortgage business - it also gave the nation's fourth-largest bank by assets a solid foothold in California.

Already established on the East Coast, Wachovia's move into California will further its push to become a national retail bank on a par with its larger rival across town, Bank of America Corp.

Today, a year after announcing plans to buy Golden West, Wachovia is in the midst of a branch-building blitz in the nation's largest state.

'We want to be in the fast-growing areas of the country,' Wachovia's chairman and chief executive, Ken Thompson, told analysts this week. 'We don't have a lot of interest in getting into areas that aren't growing as rapidly.'

And as it adds dozens of new locations in California to those it acquired from Golden West, it hasn't suffered - as some feared - from the company's exposure to the state's overheated housing market. In the recently completed first quarter, Wachovia posted 33 percent growth in net income and said revenue growth remained strong.

'We're only going to get one chance to go into California and do it right,' said Bob McGee, Wachovia's chief operating officer. 'It's a big investment for the company. And it's 2,400 miles away from headquarters, and we've never done a deal like that before either.'

To get it right, the company turned to its experience in Texas, a state where the bank didn't have a single branch before 2004. Wachovia opened the door by buying SouthTrust Corp. for $14.3 billion, and within two years had 159 financial centers - nine more opened this year - and nearly $3.7 billion in deposits.

What the bank has accomplished in Texas 'gives us a lot of confidence that we can migrate our model to California with Golden West,' Thompson told shareholders at the company's annual meeting last month.

In Golden West, Wachovia bought a 285-branch network that, while focused on California, spans 10 states. The combined company has more than 110,000 employees, 3,400 bank branches in 21 states and 5,200 ATMs.

As the bank moves into California, it faces stiff competition from the rival that got there first.

Bank of America, created in large part by a series of mergers, was born when NationsBank acquired then San Fransciso-based BankAmerica Corp. in 1998. As of June 2006, Bank of America had nearly 1,000 branches and roughly 21 percent of California customers' deposits.

Wachovia's other top competitors, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. and Seattle's Washington Mutual Inc., had 889 and 640 branches in the state, respectively.

'It's not a bad play, but it's a highly competitive play, and you have to be real good at it,' Scott MacDonald, head of the Southwest Graduate School of Banking Foundation at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said of entering California's retail banking market. 'They can do it, but it's tough to make money in this game.'

Wachovia currently has 19 branches in California, but has plans to build 30 more by the end of the year. The bank will convert all of the Golden West locations, which operates its branches under the World Savings Bank brand name, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007 - bringing its total to roughly 170.

Speaking to analysts this week, Thompson cited Wachovia's preference for building branches over buying another bank with a heavy presence in California, but he didn't rule out small acquisitions.

He said the bank would even be open to a merger of equals.

By the time the bank is done growing in California, he would like Wachovia to have 600 to 750 branches in the state.

'When you come to town new and you got a great service reputation, most potential customers will let you at least have a conversation with them,' said Pete Jones, executive vice president and Wachovia's Western banking group executive. 'I think if we can get that conversion, we won't get everybody as a customer, but we'll sure get our fair share.'

For all of Wachovia's excitement about its future in California, the deal also adds Golden West's primary business in mortgage lending to the bank's operations. In 2005, Golden West earned $1.5 billion primarily from adjustable rate mortgage loans.

While that initially spooked investors - shares in Wachovia remain a few dollars off their pre-deal high of just under $60 a share - the company had only 140 foreclosures on its books among a $122 billion mortgage portfolio at the end of March 2007.

'Originally, people thought the deal was going to be a disaster, but I think the stock has slowly and steadily come out of the penalty box,' said Kevin Fitzsimmons, an equity analyst with Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP who joined other analysts in downgrading Wachovia's stock after the deal was announced. He later reversed course and returned his rating on Wachovia to 'buy.'

'We didn't get into this business or do this deal because we foolishly thought the next 18 months would be great months in the mortgage business,' said Wachovia COO McGee, who's heading the integration of Golden West.

'It was a strategic decision. We knew we needed to be better in mortgage long-term. We needed to be bigger in mortgage long-term.'

Thompson has acknowledged mortgage originations at Golden West are falling short of original expectations, but the company is benefiting from production through Wachovia's channels. He told analysts he is confident the bank will show 'significant progress' at increasing that part of its business in the next three to four quarters.

'You are going to see an origination machine,' Thompson said. 'You are going to see a lot of sparkle coming out of Wachovia in the mortgage business.'

Originally Posted by neno

I got calls all week about that. Wondering if I need a New Pack of Underwear. lol.........

You know what else I found out later....Chase only deals in 5 currency's. The NID is the only dinar related currency with ties with others that have dinars in their identification that Chase exchanges.

One other I found to be very puzzeling after a member here noticed was, that Chase gave me a Buy and a Sell rate. (Remember they told me .261 to for them to buy and .283 for me to buy.

When you go to any Bank for a tradable Currency, there is only 1 rate for both for the day. Just check BofA Website. I missed that one all together.

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding, Neno, but there are always two rates for a currency. They charge you more when you buy, and pay you less when you sell - that''s where they profit on the exchange. If there's only one price showing on the website, that is probably the rate you would pay to buy from them.

Originally Posted by greatstuff

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding, Neno, but there are always two rates for a currency. They charge you more when you buy, and pay you less when you sell - that''s where they profit on the exchange. If there's only one price showing on the website, that is probably the rate you would pay to buy from them.

My Bad.......I was meaning at BofA site they only list the Buy rates. Then you have to go to the sell site for the sell rates. I know I know....need to proof read alittle better. But thats why we have all our Political Correct members for. lol

wow, this thread has become interesting, thanks for the wachovia news. things that make ya go hmmmm....

Originally Posted by stargate-sg13

If Google had a Nenoesse translator we might be able to understand you better. Or at least I would.

No offense Neno my friend. It take me what seems like forever to write a few sentences.

I swear that was my exact thought when I read his post! But I was thinking Neno translator...I like your word better! Sorry Neno...

Cheers!
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