Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) said today they have signed a definitive agreement for the merger of the two companies including all of Wachovia’s banking operations in a whole company transaction requiring no financial assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Under the agreement, Wells Fargo will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Wachovia in a stock-for-stock transaction. In the transaction, Wells Fargo will acquire all of Wachovia Corporation and all its businesses and obligations, including its preferred equity and indebtedness, and all its banking deposits.

Under terms of the agreement, which has been approved unanimously by the boards of both companies, Wachovia shareholders will receive 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock in exchange for each share of Wachovia common stock. The transaction, based on Wells Fargo’s closing stock price of $35.16 on October 2, 2008, is valued at $7.00 per Wachovia common share for a total transaction value of approximately $15.1 billion. Wachovia has almost 2.2 billion common shares outstanding. The agreement requires the approval of Wachovia shareholders and customary approvals of regulators.

Shakeups at Washington Mutual and Wachovia. Roundtable Discussion with Andrew Seibert of Nextier Wealth Management and Forbes CEO Steve Forbes.

Washington Mutual shares are down after Kerry Killinger stepped down as chairman. Shares of Wachovia are falling below it’s lowest value in almost 13 years after Ken Thompson was ousted.

Chairman Lanty Smith has been appointed interim CEO. Is this new management what these companies need to get back on track? Are there more troubles for financials?

I think their values will go lower until they get a feel for who will take over. There are probably more Writedowns to come.

These banks have not gone beyond the problem of the Subprime Mortgage Industry and there is possibly another shoe to fall.

If the Credit Deterioration continues, there will be many more problems.

Wachovia has big news today. Shares of falling in the premarket after the company ousted CEO Ken Thompson.

Wachovia stated he is stepping down at the request of the board, saying no single precipitating event calls because the board to reach the decision, but a series of previously disclosed disappointments and setbacks cumulatively have negatively impacted the company and performance. Perhaps you can call it an understatement.

Shares down 57% in the past 12 months.

Bank of America, PNC Financial, Wachovia Announce $5+ Billion In Writedowns. Bank of America Says Provision Cost Reflecting Boosted Reserves; PNC Financial 4Q Forecast Below Analyst Estimates, Increases Provision and Revises 2008 Forecast; Wachovia Sees 4Q Provision Expense $1 Billion Higher Than Charge Offs.

October Producer Price Index - PPI and Consumer Confidence Index - CPI Miss Estimates. Roundtable Discussion with John Silvia of Wachovia and Carl Tannenbaum of LaSalle Bank.

Stocks to Watch: Wachovia. Wachovia to Raise Loan Loss Allocation to $500 Million to $600 Million in 4Q; World’s Biggest Banks Have Written Down $40 Billion of Assets.

Wachovia became the latest banking giant to warn that it sees bigger losses as a result of the continued deterioration in the mortgage market.

Wachovia stated in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it’s anticipating loan losses between $500 million and $600 million in the fourth quarter, citing anticipated loan growth and the impact of continuing credit deterioration in its loan portfolio.

“The expected credit deterioration will likely be focused in certain geographic areas that have recently experienced dramatic declines in housing values,” according to the filing.

Wachovia shares were off nearly 4% in premarket trading Friday morning. Due to the October market deterioration, its asset-backed collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, experienced further declines in value in the month of October 2007 by an amount it currently estimates to be approximately $1.1 billion pre-tax.

Interview with U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel. Oct. 15, 2007. 09:40 AM EST. Financial Companies Setting Up $80 Billion Fund for Commercial Paper

Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wachovia Profit Curbed by Writedowns

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wachovia may post their first profit declines since 2005, as more than $3.4 billion of writedowns and loan losses dragged third quarter profits lower.

Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. bank, may reduce the value of loans used for leveraged buyouts by $700 million, and No. 3 JPMorgan may disclose a $2.1 billion writedown for LBO loans and mortgages, according to estimates by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. Wachovia, the fourth-largest will say it wrote down holdings by $670 million after taxes, analysts at New York based Citigroup said.

The worst housing market in 16 years, slowing economic growth and trading losses from securities related to subprime mortgages caused Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank, to report a 57 percent decline in profit yesterday.

Bank of America, JPMorgan and Wachovia may show their first drop in more than six quarters, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The market “isn’t going to go back to the way things were at the peak,” said Chris Hagedorn, who helps oversee about $22.4 billion at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Wachovia CEO Ken Thompson will present on Monday, September 10, at the Lehman Brothers Financial Services Conference. His presentation will be available via live audio webcast beginning at 10:15 a.m. ET September 10, through Wachovia’s Investor Relations Web site at Wachovia.com/investor. A replay will be available from 4:00 p.m. September 10 until 5:00 p.m. ET Friday, December 7.

Merrill Analyst Cuts Profit Forecast for Banks. Sep. 04, 2007. 12:00 PM EST. Merrill’s Najarian Cuts Estimates Below Consensus, Sees 60% Chance of Recession; Employment at Agencies Down 3.3% for Year in July

Mortgage Mess Beneficiaries - Thurs. Aug. 30 2007 | 1:35 PM[03:12. Tracking the mortgage shakeout, with Gary Townsend, FBR Capital Markets Sr. research analyst, and CNBC’s Becky Quick