Wachovia Corp. chief executive officer Ken Thompson was grilled at the company's annual meeting Tuesday morning as angry shareholders questioned him about the company's performance in the wake of a dismal first quarter....
...With the bank struggling through rising loan defaults in the "pick-a-payment" mortgage portfolio it acquired through its $24 billion purchase of Oakland-based Golden West Financial Corp., Thompson said, "Clearly, Golden West was an ill-timed acquisition." He added that the results are painful to him and his management team, which he said is focused on improving the company's performance and restoring shareholder value.
"We did make a bad acquisition," he said. "It has hurt us. But we can lead out of here now."
Fortunately, we aren't dependent on CEO's to give us a heads up.
For that, we look to some guy in India.
From our August 10, 2007 post:
The Day the Music Died--The Mortgage Business
On May 10, 2006 India Daily said:
Sell of Golden West Financial to Wachovia signifies burst of housing bubble
