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David LazarusConsumer Confidential• E-mail
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Recent Columns:
As ailing Wachovia Corp. waits to see whether it will be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. or Citigroup Inc. -- possibly with taxpayers paying the tab for hundreds of billions of dollars in bad loans -- some of the company's top brokers are preparing to depart Saturday for an all-expenses-paid cruise of the Greek Isles.
When the going gets tough, the tough get pedicures.
Even before the current financial crisis, a federal budget deficit of nearly $500 billion was projected for next year. Now an additional $700 billion has been committed to bailing out Wall Street, not to mention as much as $200 billion for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
When Citigroup Inc. announced its acquisition of rival Wachovia Corp. on Monday, Citi Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said the deal would "accelerate our efforts to establish Citi as the world's leading global financial institution."
You've got to love the banking industry.
Washington Mutual Inc., which has made free checking a cornerstone of its marketing campaign, is about to start imposing a $5 fee on noncustomers who come into a branch and cash a check drawn on a WaMu personal account.
Walter Howard was living in Corona a few years ago, he said, when he realized that the country's financial system was being run by crazy people.
Market forces are great. Until they're not.
I have seen the future, and it is Rollerball.
AT&T has sent customers an 8,000-word service agreement that, among other things, says people will be given 30-day notice of price increases only when "commercially reasonable" and that you can't sue the company.