Wells Fargo’s CEO:
Wells Fargo is not holding REOs in order to avoid marking down asset values. We are not using the emergency mark-to-market rule suspension to over-value our non-performing residential and commercial real estate loans, so that we appear to be solvent. I am not just saying this so that we appear to be solvent. We are not holding out for a Gov. entity to be formed, such as RTC2, to unload a boat load of REOs (we do not have) onto the tax payers.
He didn’t actually say that, but what would you expect the banks to say? I’d expect them to say exactly what that BofA exec in the interview said. Everyone from the Gov. to the Fed to banks and Goldman are lieing like a rug warehouse to us every day. All of us should know by now that they are trying to resuscitate the consumer and continue the transfer of wealth by telling him that things are not as bad as they are.
If the banks have a huge, huge shadow inventory that they are holding on to, would they admit it? If they have so many non-performing loans that they are completely insolvent would they tell the press? Will Goldman Sucks come out and admit that they run the Gov. and do indeed have tentacles sucking the wealth from us thru our 401ks, at the gas pump, obvious manipulation of the stock market and with free use of our tax dollars?
