Posted 5:01 PM by Gene

And on my way back from the not-so-great A I beheld as always this landmark in the sky, and today I couldn't help reflecting what it once stood for: Philadelphia National Bank. In twenty years it's gone through four mergers and four name changes, the first three accompanied by layoffs (and I suspect writedowns): first CoreStates (sic) Financial, then FirstUnion (sic), then Watchoverya; now it's the Federally-pastored shotgun wedding with Wells Fargo. If this bank had stayed local it might not have been better managed; then again had it hewed to local lending and sound, conservative principles it could have been a true public servant, a feather in our civic cap, and very profitable, and no one would talk about new lows, or RUNS. Walkoverya had planned to get rid of the letters but now, it appears, they'll stay forever, like the ones on the currently Loews hotel.

I would not wager though that Wells will pay full price to keep a name on the sporting Taj Mahal for rich people. It would show true principle to abandon it to the prima donnas and their losses. Then again, if their execs can find a way to put their feet on the luxury-suite railings maybe they will.