Another reason why NO ONE has ANY respect for bank executives like the idiots at Wells Fargo

Headline: "Wells Fargo exec. moved into beach home surrendered to bank"

"MALIBU, Calif. (AP) -- A Wells Fargo & Co. executive who oversees foreclosed properties hosted parties and spent long summer weekends in a $12 million Malibu beach house, moving into the home just after it had been surrendered to Wells Fargo to satisfy debts, neighbors said.

The previous owners of the beachfront home in Malibu Colony -- a densely built stretch of luxury homes that has been a favorite of celebrities over the years -- were financially devastated in Bernard Madoff's massive fraud scheme, real estate agent Irene Dazzan-Palmer said.

The couple signed the property over to Wells Fargo last spring, and the bank subsequently denied requests to show the house to prospective buyers, Dazzan-Palmer said.

Residents in the gated community told the Los Angeles Times that a woman they believe was Cheronda Guyton took up occupancy at the home in May. Residents said they obtained Guyton's name from the community's guards, who had issued her a homeowner's parking pass.

Residents also wrote down the license plate number of a 2007 Volvo sport-utility vehicle they say was parked in the home's garage. A check of state motor vehicle license plates by the Times found the vehicle was registered to Guyton.

Guyton is a Wells Fargo senior vice president responsible for foreclosed commercial properties, resident Phillip Roman said.

"It's outrageous to take over a property like that, not make it available and then put someone from the bank in it," said Roman, who lives a few homes away from the property.

Residents said Guyton, along with her husband and two children, often hosted guests at the home, including a large party the last weekend of August. Malibu Colony is about 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

Wells Fargo said in a written statement that it would conduct a thorough investigation of the allegations by neighbors, but said it wouldn't "discuss specific team member situations/issues for privacy reasons."

Guyton's home number is unlisted, and attempts to reach her at her Los Angeles office after work hours were unsuccessful.

The bank's agreement with the prior owner required it to keep the home -- a 3,800-square-foot, two-story structure built in the early 1990s -- off the market for a period of time, Wells Fargo said in the statement. The bank said it planned to list the property for sale soon."

These people make me want to throw up. Can we not form a lynch mob and wipe these worthless piles of crap off the planet? Original article here.

America's Bankrupt Banks

This is the first part of a six of an hour long show about the meltdown. If you liked this part you can find the rest the clips here. Hat tip to a Chicago for pointing these out.

WFC, from bailout to record profits in months!!

Today the market is rallying on reports of record profits from Wells Fargo this quarter.  Does anyone really beleive them?  It was only a few months ago that they had to receive a bailout from the Treasury to the tune of $25B.  What is unlcear is if this "record profit" includes any writedowns associated with all the delinquent loans they have on their books.  But wait, ah ha, they got FASB to relax rules on writing down depreciated assets!!  FASB now alows them to value their assets how ever they want so its no suprise that they are now making gobs of money.  If the banks are now making record profits then can someone please tell me why we need to subsidize the banks even further than we already have with the toxic asset program and the other bailout programs?  Here is the CFO on CNBC, I'd note how CNBC is really asking the tough questions:

I love his response to the issue of stock issuance (which is obviously behind this pump), the weasel CFO said:

"We're raising more money everyday by making more money everyday"

Well, you jerk, if thats the case, then you can give back our $25B and you can forget about participating in any future government programs.  These banks are essentially getting money at 0% right now then turning around and lending it to the rest of us for 5% (on mortgages) or up to 10-20% (on credit cards).  So let me just add,  WFC, you can go F*%# yourself.

Lehman Brothers (RIP)

Source for the image

Feds' Lehman Plan Doesn't Sit Well With Wall Street Execs
Sale of Lehman Remains Dependent on Taxpayer Support
Barclays Abandons Talks to Buy Lehman
Bank of America Said to Walk Away From Lehman Talks
Wall Street Prepares for Lehman Bankruptcy
Lehman Files for Chapter 11 Protection
Greenspan: Crisis May Be Once in Century Event, More Firms to Fail

The rise and fall of LEH:


It looks like Lehman is going to be the test case where we see what happens when one of these gigantic financial institutions really goes bankrupt. Is Lehman "too big to fail," well I guess we'll find out. Up until now the mammoth firms that went under were bailed out by the gov (FNM, FRE), a bigger fish (BAC/CFC) or both (JPM/BSC). I'm excluding IMB in this because they were small compared to these others ($40B in assets).

I heard a trader use an interesting metaphor for the situation last week. When a pack of lions has a herd of buffalo surrounded, the one with the fewest connections at the edge of the herd is the one the lions will eat. Right now the buffalo at the edge of the pack are WM, LEH and MER while the lions are GS, JPM, BAC and WFC.

American Banks

There is quite a bit going on with each of the banks below, some are certainly in more trouble than others. But tonight I just wanted to post these six month charts because I get the impression the market is ignoring what is happening to America's top lending institutions. Things are getting ugly, real fast, and if you think the US economy is going to just keep chugging along all hunky dory without these banks, well, you are nuts!

Washington Mutual:

Citigroup:

Capital One Financial:

Bank of America:

Wells Fargo:

I'm actually pretty scared here and thats coming from a short. The way things are unfolding, it seems like the US is heading towards a deep recession and I am scared for the welfare of my friends and family. I have actually been telling my friends and family to not hold ANY US stocks or mutual funds for the long term for some time now. I have only grown more concerned over the last six months even as stocks mindlessly went higher.

Disclosure: I own BAC puts