No banks here!
On Friday, WaMu, or Washington Mutual, in the throes of bankruptcy was purchased by JP Morgan. In a fit of emotion, Wachovia stockholders started to sell! Wachovia’s stock dropped by 27% in one day. Wachovia then announced that they were thinking about selling to one of three companies. That was how the day closed on Friday.
During the weekend, it was announced that Wachovia had sold off part of its bank; the part with the heavy debt for a whopping $1/share. Citicorp, for a cool $2.1 billion dollars bought about $21 billion dollars worth of Wachovia. Not bad, 10 cents on the dollar … a fire sale!
So what does this have to do with photography, me, or anything else? Well, my wife works for Wachovia and it looks like her job will be either eliminated or moved to NYC in the coming months. We never know how fast these things happen. Actually, the sale still needs to be approved by both boards and whatever regulators get involved.
In the mean time, it’s good to be out of financial toilet, A.K.A. Charlotte, NC. When we first moved there, we at least had the vision to say that if anything bad happened in banking that we might have to go out of town to get jobs … so, here I am. It’s great to have a camera, to escape the cares of the world for a few moments, to contemplate the river, if only for a few moments. Soon, it will be time to rebuild, help my wife find a new job (No, we won’t be moving to Charleston anytime soon!), and continue on with life.
So, at first, coming to Charleston seemed like a not-so-good-idea, but necessary. No, in light of recent events, it seemed like a very good idea, indeed!
It has been an interesting few years, to say the least!
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11 Responses to “It was a good decision.”
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I was thinking of you guys when I heard the news about the Wachovia sale. I’d been hoping Wachovia could ride out this storm but I guess it wasn’t to be. You’re certainly right, we seldom realize how fast things can change. As a banking hub the Charlotte, NC, area is getting especially hard hit, and you’ve gotten the double whammy!
What makes it even worst is this fanancial crisis is the end result of simple greed and the top “criminals” are probably going to walk away with fat($) deals.
Being local if theirs anything I can do to help….
Whoops…thata should be “there’s” instead of “theirs”
Paul,
I’m very sorry to hear these news. This very morning I read in my local newspaper about Wachovia being in some kind of trouble, but of course I had forgotten about your wife working there. Scary, things don’t look real frightening until you connect them with people!
I guess I can’t possibly offer help, thus I at least give you my heartfelt best wishes.
Andreas
@Andreas/Earl: Not to worry. Nothing has happened just yet and we’ve been through this type of thing before, in 2001 when the Internet bubble burst. We are already coming up with options, none of which include moving. We’ll just see how this plays out, but thanks for your concern! I appreciate it. Meanwhile, I’ll just keep going to the river, reflecting, and enjoying life as I should!
I know you’re fond of Taoist philosophy. Hope you can muster some of that wu-wei acceptance and living-in-the-moment as things unfold. I’m sure whatever the future brings, in the long run it will be seen as positive. –John
@John: You betcha. It’s easy to have that philosophy when things are going your way.
The true test is to keep it when things aren’t. I shall be as the palm tree in the wind. I will bend. Trees that remain stiff and try to fight the wind, break.
While I pondered how I might express my admiration for yesterday’s post, you have amazed me yet again. Both your work and your philosophy are inspiring. Come to think of it, I suspect that there is no real separation between those elements and therein lies the lesson.
Paul, sorry to hear that managerial greed has put additional sorrows on you. There’s nothing to offer from here, but my best wishes go with you all. Keep up your head, and keep creating.
Really sorry to hear that you’ve also been hit by the next wave of financial desaster… Hope things work out for you and your family in the end! I guess having a certain relaxed attitude towards life and resting in oneself really helps over a lot of rough patches. Great that you still manage to enjoy those quiet peaceful moments of the day!
@Thomas/Anita/Markus: Things are already looking up, to be sure. Wachovia broke its agreement with Citcorp and got a much better deal with Wells Fargo. WF said that they will keep all of the operations in Charlotte. I’m sure that that allowed the mayor of Charlotte to get a bit of sleep! That would have been a serious dagger to the heart of Charlotte.
I saw this morning where Citigroup had got a court order Sat. to stop the Wells Fargo and Wachovia deal…at least for now. CG said Wachovia had agreeded to an exclusive deal which prevented them from looking for other buyers. It’s going to get ugly…hope WF wins.