Wachovia posts record $8.9 billion quarterly loss

Buying World Savings (a/k/a Golden West) appears to have been a terrible decision as Wachovia took a $6.1 billion charge related to declining asset values on its way to posting a $9 billion loss for the quarter.  In addition to suspending it's wholesale lending department, the bank is slashing jobs, dividends and non-core businesses in an attempt to keep the company going after suffering at the hands of the dreaded pay option, neg-am ARM loan. From Bloomberg on the loss: Wachovia Corp., the U.S. bank that hired Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel as chief executive officer two weeks ago, reported a record quarterly loss of $8.9 billion and cut the dividend by 87 percent. The stock fell as much as 12 percent in early New York trading. The second-quarter loss of $4.20 a share compared