WELLS FARGO & CO NEW Good 2nd Earnings Lifts Bank Stocks and Options

Significant Stocks and Options Moves on Wed. 07/16/08

clipped from biz.yahoo.com AP Wells Fargo profit drops, but dividend rises Wednesday July 16, 4:58 pm ET By Madlen Read, AP Business Writer Wells Fargo profit falls on loan losses, but the bank beats estimates and lifts dividend Wells Fargo’s second-quarter profit fell 22 percent as more customers at the nation’s fifth-largest bank failed to pay back their loans. But it raised its dividend to 34 cents from 31 cents — at a time when many other financial institutions are slashing theirs to preserve capital. The San Francisco-based company’s shares soared $6.72, or 32.8 percent, to close at $27.23 Wednesday, after tumbling alongside other financial stocks over the last several days on worries about more U.S. mortgage losses and bank failures.