Wachovia Ousts CEO

Ken Thompson, who was removed from his position as Wachovia Corp.'s chairman in May, is now out as chief executive of the corporation as well. Lanty Smith, who replaced Mr. Thompson as chairman and will now be the interim chief executive officer as well, said in a statement that "no single precipitating event" caused the decision, but that "a series of previously disclosed disappointments and setbacks" have hurt the company and its performance. In the first quarter, Wachovia lost $350 million. A good deal of its problems stemmed from its May 2006 purchase of Golden West, a thrift holding company known for originating payment-option adjustable-rate mortgage loans. Wachovia boosted its provision for credit losses to $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter, citing more severe deterioration in the housing market than had been anticipated, particularly in California and Florida. Investors reacted negatively to the news, driving down Wachovia's common stock price by $0.90 per share as of midday June 2 to $22.90 a share. Wachovia's 52-week low, according to Yahoo!, is $23.13. Wachovia, based in Charlotte, N.C., can be found on the Web at http://www.wachovia.com.