Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
*hugs* thanks for the support and knowing there are others who are reading the thoughts of the day on here by others but are in fact on the inside looking out.
I bet there are many others who are reading (and on the inside looking out, as you said) and not posting a word. Sending hugs back (((((emagine)))))
It is all speculation . . . and real life goes on . . . You are here now (well- Greenville) - enjoy getting to know your way around . . . and don't let this other stuff concern you. What is it John Lennon said? "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans . . ." I believe that was it. Don't miss out on a day w/ your family w/ worry about your H's job. Wachovia is not going to suddenly shut the doors!!!
Forbes today has an article which quoted a New York University economist, one who predicted this mess step by step last February, basically saying that the BofA/Countrywide move is going to cost Ken Lewis his job. At this point it almost seems to be a no brainer. The same article states that Countrywide is already holding about 34 billion dollars in worthless second mortgages. Hell of an acquisition by Ken Lewis. If he really does sign off on the Countrywide deal they might as well save him a spot on the unemployment line.
The whole article is here.
Second Helping For Bank Shorts - Forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/06/27/bank-goldman-lehman-oped-cx_rl_0630croesus.html - broken link)
I know BofA has already announced 7500 job cuts nationwide, I don't think they know how many of those will affect Charlotte as of yet.
As far as Wachovia goes, they're so far in the hole with PAP loans that they don't even trust their own judgment to pick out the bad ones. They go out and hire Goldman Sachs to pick out the bad ones for them to sell off. To make matters even worse, Wachovia's stock is down (again) today due to them possibly having to buy back Prudential Financial piece of their joint retail brokerage venture, valued at an estimated 5 billion dollars. I think they're the absolute biggest concern as far as even having any future presence in Charlotte, especially if JP Morgan buys them out.
Interesting article, and a lot of it with regards to banking was echoed on CNBC this afternoon. But it is a little dark in that at the end as it suggests that a world wide financial crisis is looming. This is with good reason, as governments are looking to prop up the bubble as a “natural state” and not see it as an aberration that needs to be managed.
As far as Wachovia being bought out thought, the article suggests that no domestic bank is in a position to purchase another bank as JP Morgan is due to put back a lot of entries they held off of the balance sheet next year, as is Wachovia. Wells Fargo and Citibank, other names floating around as a potential buyers are due to list massive write downs.
With BofA, I had heard that the bulk of the 7500 job cuts would be from Country Wide locations and not here in Charlotte.
CNBC also offered this last week – companies like to be able to hammer out these deals over long weekends if they can (like the one coming up) because it gives them extra time to work out the details. Also, there is a time constraint here as they would like a deal struck so that it could be approved before the current administration is out to beat the uncertainty of what will happen under the next one. Since the deals usually take about 6 months to go through the process, now is the time.
But what bank is going to want to buy out another when no one knows “what’s behind the curtain” on their balance sheet? Unless they can get sweetheart Bear Strens type deal.
I have been following these rumors on this site too. My bf moved down here for a contract job with Wachovia. We knew that was a risk but we did it anyway because we are fairly young and have not bought anything here.
They are now in the process of making him full time. He has become close with his boss quickly and and they want him full time plus his boss has told him there is no way a buy out is going to happen. I just hope that's true, reading all these posts on here has made me quite worried.
Unfortunately, the rank and file has no idea what is going on in the senior level offices right now. Even if there was a deal in the works, they couldn’t say a word to employees about it.
A good sign however is that Wachovia has not instituted a hiring freeze on full times or consultants. If things were that dire, they might have done this already.
I think (hopefully) that Wachovia will be left to work out their own problems as other banks are going to have to straighten out their own houses before they can go out and buy another bank. Now is not the time to inherit other company’s known and unknown problems and have to increase your debt load to do it. And no other bank is in the position to buy Wachovia.
Location: Some got six month some got one solid. But me and my buddies all got lifetime here
4,555 posts, read 10,401,557 times
Reputation: 2162
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redd Jedd
A good sign however is that Wachovia has not instituted a hiring freeze on full times or consultants. If things were that dire, they might have done this already.
I remember when Wachovia had their operations center in New Jersey. They were still hiring temps on a permanent basis before they closed the building. One was hired three weeks before the announcement. They had a managers meeting late in the day and brought in a big wig from Charlotte the following day to drop the axe.
Now granted they were also offering people to relocate to Charlotte as well, which was probably why there was no hiring freeze at the time. But I don't believe that there needs to be a hiring freeze in order for something bad to happen. I do know that some departments are as close to a hiring freeze as they can get, having to move mountains to open up a single requisition. Team leaders telling their employees to look beyond the building. Some areas not replacing employees after they've left. Which all could end when this whole crisis is over, provided Wachovia weathers the storm.
And trust me, I don't want anything bad to happen. I don't like hearing of good people losing their jobs for one. Second I have friends in all three Charlotte buildings. I don't want to see them out of work either. They're good, honest, hard working people. I could really give a crap if anyone calls me negative. When I left there was a really bad vibe in the building I was in, and that was before Ken Thompson was shown the door. That's just being realistic. Being realistic is also saying that Wachovia is at it's most unstable (consecutive quarters of losses with the last one at a little over 700 million, the PAP which has just killed them, the Golden West acquisition, etc.). Being honest is also saying that I don't want to see anyone, particularly people I know, out of work.
I remember when Wachovia had their operations center in New Jersey. They were still hiring temps on a permanent basis before they closed the building. One was hired three weeks before the announcement. They had a managers meeting late in the day and brought in a big wig from Charlotte the following day to drop the axe.
Now granted they were also offering people to relocate to Charlotte as well, which was probably why there was no hiring freeze at the time. But I don't believe that there needs to be a hiring freeze in order for something bad to happen. I do know that some departments are as close to a hiring freeze as they can get, having to move mountains to open up a single requisition. Team leaders telling their employees to look beyond the building. Some areas not replacing employees after they've left. Which all could end when this whole crisis is over, provided Wachovia weathers the storm.
And trust me, I don't want anything bad to happen. I don't like hearing of good people losing their jobs for one. Second I have friends in all three Charlotte buildings. I don't want to see them out of work either. They're good, honest, hard working people. I could really give a crap if anyone calls me negative. When I left there was a really bad vibe in the building I was in, and that was before Ken Thompson was shown the door. That's just being realistic. Being realistic is also saying that Wachovia is at it's most unstable (consecutive quarters of losses with the last one at a little over 700 million, the PAP which has just killed them, the Golden West acquisition, etc.). Being honest is also saying that I don't want to see anyone, particularly people I know, out of work.
I think your insight is very helpful and not just being "negative." I know you are concerned for your friends and none of us would wish a job termination on any group of employees.
If Wachovia moves its headquarters, it would affect CLT in a big way, I feel certain. However, all people can do is go on w/ their lives and for those who may have the opportunity to find others jobs - then they can weigh it out and see if that is what they feel is the best thing to do at this point.
I don't think discussing the possibilities re: Wachovia's future is a bad thing. We are all wondering. It would be very disruptive, not just for employees, but for many other sectors w/in this city - including real estate. Nothing wrong w/ considering what COULD happen. I think it is quite clear that we are all just speculating here . . . and of course, hoping that Wachovia will remain right here . . . along w/ the jobs and our friends.
Location: Some got six month some got one solid. But me and my buddies all got lifetime here
4,555 posts, read 10,401,557 times
Reputation: 2162
Quote:
Originally Posted by anifani821
I think your insight is very helpful and not just being "negative." I know you are concerned for your friends and none of us would wish a job termination on any group of employees.
If Wachovia moves its headquarters, it would affect CLT in a big way, I feel certain. However, all people can do is go on w/ their lives and for those who may have the opportunity to find others jobs - then they can weigh it out and see if that is what they feel is the best thing to do at this point.
I don't think discussing the possibilities re: Wachovia's future is a bad thing. We are all wondering. It would be very disruptive, not just for employees, but for many other sectors w/in this city - including real estate. Nothing wrong w/ considering what COULD happen. I think it is quite clear that we are all just speculating here . . . and of course, hoping that Wachovia will remain right here . . . along w/ the jobs and our friends.
Exactly.
It'll take a little bit before BofA feels the impact of the foolishness from purchasing Countrywide. With Wachovia, there's literally no way to look at them by way of glass half full other than to say "well, they're still here". On the inside they're a disaster.
And yeah, there's a chance that JP Morgan doesn't buy them out. In fact, according to a fresh article in Business Week there's a couple of other institutions that might buy Wachovia at a bargain basement price.
I think there’s a real risk Wachovia gets taken out this time around by either J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo or…Goldman Sachs (yup, that’s the rumor floating around at the moment, which doesn’t completely make sense to me. Investment banks have historically been loath to get into commercial banking because of the lower returns). And with Wachovia’s stock now down 70% from its 52-week high, any acquirer may get to “Pick” what they “Pay.” And they might choose to pay--you guessed it--the minimum.
Brian - That Business Week article aptly seems to point out Wachovia's predicament. Just as an aside, I was looking into refinancing my mortgage at the beginning of the year. I had an ARM mortgage whose rate was actually "going down", but I still wanted to get a fixed-rate mortgage. My mortgage holder was IndyMac bank, a California outfit. I checked Wachovia's Pick-A-Payment and laughed at the rates they were offering on a 30-year fixed mortgage! IndyMac called just about this time, and offered to convert my ARM to a fixed 5.5% rate at no charge. I checked them out on the internet and they had just laid off 25% of their workforce. But I took the deal. It was good while it lasted! I won't be making those smaller payments anymore, as I sold my old NJ house last month. I would think that Wachovia, as well as BoA, might try the same approach to save some of their mortgage portfolios. When I asked the guy who called me from IndyMac, why they offered me such a deal, he said that people like me, who had never had a late payment and had a FICO score of over 800 were likely to be "cherry-picked" away from IndyMac with similar offers. I don't know if he was giving me a line, but it worked, and that rate in Feb seemed pretty good.
And yeah, there's a chance that JP Morgan doesn't buy them out. In fact, according to a fresh article in Business Week there's a couple of other institutions that might buy Wachovia at a bargain basement price.
If they do get purchased, let’s hope it is Goldman or Wells. Wells has no geographic overlap (except for Golden West), and Goldman would have very little business overlap. If a buyout is in their future, I think all in Charlotte would welcome either of those two scenarios.
If they do get purchased, let’s hope it is Goldman or Wells. Wells has no geographic overlap (except for Golden West), and Goldman would have very little business overlap. If a buyout is in their future, I think all in Charlotte would welcome either of those two scenarios.
Wells already has a presence here...they opened an mortgage operations center with great fanfare (Ft. Mill) and then closed it again less than 4 years later. They laid off most of the staff, keeping some for their Loss Mitigation operations.
This is one Charlottean that would not welcome them with open arms.
Location: Charlotte,NC, US, North America, Earth, Alpha Quadrant,Milky Way Galaxy
3,770 posts, read 7,543,620 times
Reputation: 2118
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianH1970
Exactly.
It'll take a little bit before BofA feels the impact of the foolishness from purchasing Countrywide. With Wachovia, there's literally no way to look at them by way of glass half full other than to say "well, they're still here". On the inside they're a disaster.
And yeah, there's a chance that JP Morgan doesn't buy them out. In fact, according to a fresh article in Business Week there's a couple of other institutions that might buy Wachovia at a bargain basement price.
It depends what business unit you are in- it's not disaster all throughout the bank. It's not happy days either, but it's not flames filling the halls either. If you are in the CIB (Investment Banking) unit then yes, you were most effected by the Goldenwest acquisition and they are laying off and freezing reqs. General Banking, not so much.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wfhm
