Would Wachovia Be as Popular Without the Bailout Bill?

It is amazing what a trust fund can do. Two weeks ago, Wachovia couldn’t get arrested. It was scorned by analysts, a pain to investors and low on potential acquirers because of its bad loans. Twice in the past week it came close to failure in what would have been the largest U.S. bank failure in history, stealing the crown from Washington Mutual. Now, Wachovia is torn between suitors Citigroup and Wells Fargo. Citigroup offered $2.16 billion for most of Wachovia in a government-brokered deal. Then, Wells Fargo offered $15.1 billion, without government help, and now Citigroup is suing to win the bank. What happened? Well, think of Wachovia as the ugly duckling who suddenly became a lot more attractive to marriage-hunters because of an inheritance. In this case, the inheritance is the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The... [read full story]