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bilgert, can you explain your thought process? I'm trying to understand options.
From my perspective, you need a 12% gain just to get to breakeven. So if you think it will go up 12%, why not just buy the stock? If it goes up 15%, to like $21, what would your options be worth? Would the gain be more than 15%? I just don't get the upside there, unless you're expcting a huge move.
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Honestly, these short term options plays that I play close to expiration dates are just akin to gambling. I won't hold past Tuesday, regardless of it's options price.
I only play 'em like this is if they are heavily oversold, which Wachovia (along with most of the banking sector, like C, BoA, etc.) is. I'm hoping for a short term bounce to about $18.50, maybe $18.75 in the PPS next week, which _should_ mean that I should be able to sell my options at around .40.
If the PPS rose to $21 in 5 days, I'd be a very, very happy man, PCola. I doubt that happens. But if it did, then my $20 options would probably be worth about $2.50+/-
I will say that I am considering buying some longer term (October) calls at the $20 strike price, which are priced around $2.30, the last I checked.
Even still, it's very risky. I haven't been doing (non-paper)options for very long- right now I'm just having a little fun experimenting.
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Wachovia loses $8.86 billion, slashes jobs NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wachovia Corp (WB.N), the fourth-largest U.S. bank, on Tuesday posted an $8.86 billion second-quarter loss, slashed its dividend and announced 6,350 job cuts after losses tied to mortgages soared.
Its shares fell $1.67, or 12.7 percent, to $11.51 in premarket trading.
The net loss for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank equaled $4.20 per share, and compared with a profit of $2.34 billion, or $1.22, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the loss was $1.27 per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of $1.30, according to Reuters Estimates.
"These bottom-line results are disappointing and unacceptable," Chairman Lanty Smith said in a statement. "While to some degree they reflect industry headwinds and weaker macroeconomic conditions, they also reflect performance for which we at Wachovia accept responsibility."
Results included a $6.06 billion write-down of goodwill and reflected a $4.19 billion increase in reserves for bad loans.
They also included a $975 million charge related to its tax treatment of leveraged leases, $936 million of losses tied to disrupted capital markets, a $590 million charge for other legal matters, and $391 million of losses on securities sales.
Wachovia slashed its quarterly dividend 87 percent to 5 cents per share from 37.5 cents, and has now lowered it 92 percent this year.
JOB CUTS
The job cuts will affect more than 5 percent of the bank's roughly 120,000 employees. Wachovia also said it will eliminate 4,400 jobs and contracting positions that are now open.
Wachovia said it cut 2,000 jobs at its retail mortgage operations through June, and plans to eliminate 4,400 more in the next year.
The bank ended the quarter with a Tier 1 capital ratio, which measures its ability to cover losses, of 8 percent. Regulators consider 6 percent sufficient. Wachovia raised $8.05 billion of capital in April.
Wachovia on July 9 had projected a $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion quarterly loss, equal to $1.23 to $1.33 per share, excluding goodwill items.
The same day, it named former Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel as chief executive, replacing Ken Thompson, whom it ousted a month earlier.
Steel will try to unload troubled assets following Wachovia's disastrous $24.2 billion purchase in October 2006 of Golden West Financial Corp, a specialist in option adjustable-rate mortgages.
"In the short term, the entire organization is focused on protecting, preserving and generating capital, reinforcing Wachovia's strong liquidity position, and reducing risk," Steel said.
MORTGAGE LOSSES
Wachovia's increase in loan loss reserves included $3.3 billion related to the "Pick-a-Pay" mortgages in which Golden West specialized, and which enticed Wachovia to buy Golden West in the first place.
The bank has since stopped making those loans, and on Monday said that this week it will stop offering home loans through brokers.
Wachovia is setting aside $10.96 billion for credit losses, up from $6.77 billion in the first quarter and $3.55 billion a year earlier. Net charge-offs increased more than eight-fold from a year earlier to $1.31 billion.
The corporate and investment banking unit had a $209 million profit, down 73 percent, reflecting write-downs tied to subprime mortgages, commercial mortgages, non-subprime debt and consumer mortgages.
Profits in consumer and business banking, Wachovia's largest unit, fell 23 percent to $1.12 billion.
Capital management profit fell 5 percent to $297 million, hurt by the liquidation of an Evergreen Investments fund, while wealth management profit rose 9 percent to $98 million.
Through Monday, Wachovia shares had plunged 65 percent this year, compared with a 30 percent drop in the KBW Bank Index (.BKX).
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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