Wachovia Joins Elite Club Of The Most Stupid. Cuts Dividend 90%.

Just as we are told banking stocks have bottomed, American Express and Wachovia report results that take their shares down significantly. At some point the market will be right to assume bank stocks are bottoming but I see nothing other than hope at this point as a motivator for that position. If something is needed to crack one between the eyes to wake up to the ongoing risks, all one needs to see is Wachovia cut its dividend nearly 90%. The Wachovia executives are surely not convincing me the business model they created has any future sustainability.

Wachovia reports nearly $9 billion in losses and the statement from the company is, "These bottom-line results are disappointing and unacceptable," said Chairman Lanty L. Smith. "While to some degree they reflect industry headwinds and weaker macroeconomic conditions, they also reflect performance for which we at Wachovia accept responsibility."

Industry headwinds? Industry headwinds that banking CEOs created. Disappointing and unacceptable to whom? How much were the senior executives paid by the owners of this company to destroy it? Those who are disappointed are the main street investors who owned Wachovia in their savings and retirement plans.. To the employees whose lives are going to be upset significantly by layoffs. The senior executives get to go home and relax with their cozy salary.

If we don't come out of this cycle with an overhaul of corporate governance, I'm moving to China and embracing communism.