5 Things Smaller Than Wachovia's $23.7 Billion Loss

Wow, that's a bad quarter. Wachovia says losses hit nearly $24 billion in the third quarter, including a $19 billion goodwill impairment charge as it tries to clear the pipes before merging with Wells Fargo.

Here's a look at what that loss is bigger than:

1. Wells Fargo's $15 billion buyout offer.

2. Citigroup's spurned $2.16 billion offer for Wachovia's assets. (Citigroup was also going to assume $42 billion or so in Wachovia losses.)

3. Golden West Financial. OK, so this one's actually slightly larger than the quarterly loss—but it's close. Wachovia bought the mortgage lender for $24.3 billion in cash and stock just two years ago. The buy was much despised at the time, and now the expected losses on pay-option mortgages it got as part of that deal total $26.1 billion.

4. Estonia's GDP (2007): $21.28 billion

5. Renaming costs. The estimated cost of replacing signage at the Wachovia Center, home of the Philadelphia Flyers and Sixers, is about $1 million. If they decide to rename the WaMu Theater at the Garden (formerly Madison Square Garden), the price goes up, but the transition could be easier, since that name change went through just last year.

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