NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 28, 2007—Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Wells Fargo&Co (AA+/Stable/A-1+) has announced a $1.4 billion provision to cover higher losses in its home equity loan portfolio and its exit from certain correspondent channels where the majority of these problem loans were sourced. Based on the third-quarter reported net income of $2.3 billion, this special provision could reduce Wells Fargo's fourth-quarter earnings by 56%. However, we recognize Wells Fargo's strong capital base and business and earnings diversity as being truly robust, and therefore this special provision will not affect the credit ratings on the company. During the past year, Wells Fargo's residential mortgage portfolio had shown good performance, despite the highly
