Wells Fargo CEO: Housing slump is worst since Great Depression

[lovuian]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20071115-1348-wellsfargo-housing.html


SAN FRANCISCO – Evoking Depression-era memories, Wells Fargo & Co. President John Stumpf on Thursday became the latest banker to predict continuing difficulties in the U.S. housing market as risky mortgages made to overextended borrowers disintegrate into large loan losses.

Speaking at an investment conference in New York, Stumpf said the current real estate conditions are the worst he has experienced during his 30-year career. He then punctuated his gloomy assessment by harking back to the deepest downturn of the 20th century.


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“We have not seen a nationwide decline in housing like this since the Great Depression,” he said.

Stumpf, who became Wells Fargo's chief executive 4½ months ago, isn't the first prominent banker to liken the housing market's current slump to the financial despair of the 1930s.

Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., made a similar comparison in July as his mortgage company sank deeper into a morass of losses that forced it to raise billions of dollars and lay off thousands of workers to stay afloat.

Wells Fargo shares dropped $1.28, or 3.9 percent, to close at $31.97 Thursday.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the fifth largest U.S. bank, so far has fared far better than virtually all of its peers.
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Some scary words but honest ones
While Congress is LA LA LA

[nightrider767]

1. When Bush Touted Housing numbers I smelled a rat.

Housing was the only thing that kept this weak economy moving for years and now we're going to pay the price.

[lovuian]

2. Yep they used it so they could steal the jobs and still have

the economy keep going

Now they even taking our homes away from us

A complete money grab