about specific income statement and balance sheet items
and other measures of future results of operations and financial conditions
including generally statements about future credit quality and losses
...and specifically statements that the risk reduction or de-risking actions
taken in the fourth quarter will reduce the likelihood of future losses,
...and that we feel good about our financial assumptions.
Bob Strickland
Did some stabilize financial markets in the short term
to defend political legacies and financial interests,
regardless of long term consequences?
"...we took numerous actions in the fourth quarter to reduce the risk,
or as we like to say de-risk,
the combined new balance sheet in preparation for the Wachovia acquisition.
...In 2008, Wells Fargo grew revenues by 6.1% organically...
...Each bank had a number of other significant items
including write downs of securities and loans as well as merger and integration expenses.
As a result, Wells Fargo reported a $2.5 billion loss in the fourth quarter.
...Another metric sometimes used to assess capital strength
is the combination of tier-1 capital and the allowance for credit losses.
For Wells, the combined amount of tier-1 capital and our $21.7 billion of allowance
would approximate 9.4% of earning assets for the consolidated two banks and year-end 2008.
That ratio is higher than Wells Fargo maintained on a stand alone basis
at any point in the last six years other than 2006...
The [The Sarbanes-Oxley Act] …certification …requires CEOs and CFOs
to certify in each annual (10-K) and each quarterly (10-Q) report that:
they have personally reviewed the report and:
…the report does not contain any material misstatements or omissions;
…Since the requirement that the financial information be presented fairly
is no longer qualified by the phrase in accordance with GAAP,...even if a company’s financial statements are in compliance with GAAP,
they may still violate the fair presentation requirement…
Rizvana Zameeruddin, Northeastern Illinois University
...We consider the capital position and allowance of the consolidated company
to be a source of strength.
...We successfully closed the Wachovia acquisition on schedule, on plan on December 31, 2008.
In preparation for the next stage in our profitable growth,
numerous actions were taken by both banks in the fourth quarter
that will reduce the potential for loss going forward.
...the balance sheet of the combined organization was strengthened
and the resultant de-risked capital position of the new organization remains strong.
Howard Atkins, CFO
Did some economic and political leaders
bail themselves and their compatriots out of their own mistakes,
by pledging trillions of debt and newly created money,
knowing the consequences would be handed down to many who may be unaware
including the unborn of following generations?
...while economic conditions are still uncertain
we couldn’t feel better about the future for Wells Fargo.
Should shareholder and debt investors reap profits
from money borrowed from a nation’s children,
to save companies responsible for creating the need to be bailed out?
I’m also happy to report that today
the Board of Directors declared a common dividend of $0.34 per share
consistent with our prior dividend.
John Stumpf
Could many who believe the government
should pledge their children’s future income
to prevent the failure of insolvent businesses and/or countries
be indirectly advocating a political system other than capitalistic democracy?
If the government manipulated financial markets to stimulate demand
after too many borrowers acquired too much unsustainable debt,
did intervention reward some
who may have contributed to causing the problems in the first place?
If the natural cycle of capitalistic democracy revolves between risk and aversion,
what should happen if government intervention perverts the process
to forestall short term economic pain?
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