Today's developments provided further evidence that the $25.5 billion bet Wachovia placed on California through its purchase of Golden West amid a slowing housing market in May 2006 was a dumb move. Observers at the time said it was a train wreck occurring in slow motion and could set the stage for the nation's fourth-largest bank to find itself stumbling into the arms of a merger partner such as Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC).
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