Wachovia turnaround underway?

The pressure is on for Robert Steel, the new CEO of Wachovia, who has raised the number of jobs the bank will cut. The AP reports that in a quarterly SEC filing, the bank says it expects to eliminate 11,350 positions, including 6,950 active employees and 4,400 open positions. That's about 600 more than previously planned. All will be in the mortgage area. Wachovia estimates that all cost-cutting steps will boost Tier 1 capital by more than $5 billion by the end of 2009. A lot is riding on the state of the real-estate economy. If the situation improves measurably, Wachovia would certainly benefit. To be seen as a pure play-like winner, it would need to clear up all the regulatory issues. The latest is that its municipal derivatives group is under investigation.

For more:
- here's the AP article

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