Wachovia Has Record $8.9 Billion Loss, Cuts Dividend

“Wachovia lowered the dividend to 5 cents a share from 37.5 cents … The second quarter loss included a $6.1 billion charge tied to declining asset values … Wachovia’s goodwill impairment charge didn’t include its Golden West business ‘due to the value of the retail banking franchise,’ the company said. The impairment included $4.5 billion in reduced value of commercial loans, plus $597 million in investment-banking assets.”

So what did the stock do given this terrible news on Tuesday? It gapped down (expected) and then reversed and ripped higher, moving up over 30% from the open (unexpected). It seems to be a good time to be day trading given the double-digit intraday percentage moves.