Audio of Ackman's press conference

The battle between Wells Fargo and Citigroup over Wachovia appears to have come to an end today with Wells Fargo as the winner. This post includes 2 images showing the bank branch coverage that will result from the merger.

Warren Buffett told CNBC's Becky Quick that the measure will help unfreeze the credit markets, but warned that it is not a "panacea" for the economy. He also revealed that he owns only two domestic stocks personally, Berkshire and Wells.

The New York Times has an interactive graphic that visually conveys the impact the current market crisis has had on the financial sector. It has market cap scaled regions for two time periods, September 12, 2008 and October 9, 2007. It would be interesting to have a similar chart by a value metric, such as book value.

A roundup of last week's stock related blog posts.

At a time where other banks like Citi (C), Wachovia (WB) and others are shedding (or trying to) assets at a breakneck pace, Wells Fargo is quietly expanding its business and growing stronger.

The transcript of the May 16, 2008 Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb Investor Day at the St. Regis Hotel, New York City. The transcript includes a lot of interesting questions about individual stocks.

On CNBC last week, Buffett revealed he is buying more stock in either American Express or Wells Fargo. Here is the argument for the former.

Warren Buffett tells CNBC's Becky Quick that he has been adding recently to one of the two stakes Berkshire Hathaway already has in a pair of financial stocks: American Express and Wells Fargo.

The latest example of the power of dividends and dividend growth came on June 16 when U.S. Bank Wells Fargo (WFC) announced a 10% dividend increase. The stock market promptly celebrated big time. Normally dividend increases are hardly reported as news let alone get front page headlines.

Examination of how assessing management behavior can lead to value opportunities

As the opening quote to this post highlights: expected value matters more than simple probability. The probability of something going wrong ....

Whitney Tilson and Andy Kilpatrick talk about Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway on CNBC.

"The value stocks favored by Tweedy, Browne haven't done very well lately. But if you are a true believer in value, that's all the more reason to be buying those stocks now."

Why Buffett likes Wells and US Bank so much, and why Wachovia is a trainwreck by comparison.