Behind the failure of Wachovia

The failure of Wachovia -- the nation's fourth largest bank -- is the next shoe to fall here at home. Let's start with some common customer concerns that Clark is hearing. First, accounts are completely safe, and you can access your funds just as you did before the failure. Second, if you have a mortgage or HELOC with Wachovia, you still must pay on your debt to the same address where you've been paying all along.

The FDIC claims this is not a failure, but that's baloney. Wachovia stockholders -- including Clark himself -- are wiped out. For months, Clark has been blasting Wachovia on air over a variety of issues. Therefore, he felt it would be unethical for him to sell his holdings, and so he too went down with the ship.

We as taxpayers did not pay anything for the Wachovia failure, but our maximum potential exposure could be up to $270 billion under the deal the FDIC arranged with Citigroup. This fact is not being reported widely.

Meanwhile, the federal bailout is designed to prevent a death spiral; credit unions and other institutions now are being granted access to money to bolster our financial system. So where is it safe to put your money? Clark wants to emphasize that it's completely safe to use all of our nation's banks, mutual fund companies and credit unions.

One final word for Wachovia customers: Print out hard copies of all current balances on all holdings. Having current records is your best defense against things getting bungled down the road as Citigroup takes over.