PRESS RELEASES

Houck, a two-time Wall Street Journal All-Star, joined Wachovia Securities from A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., where he established research coverage of the specialty finance sector. Houck originally joined A.G. Edwards as a commercial bank analyst covering U.S. regional banks.

Prior to joining A.G. Edwards, Houck worked as a credit and commercial loan officer in the commercial banking industry for NationsBank Corp. (formerly Boatmen’s Bancshares) in St. Louis, and PNC Bank Corp.

Houck, a Chartered Financial Analyst, graduated with a B.S. degree in mathematics and statistics and an M.B.A. in finance from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Wachovia Securities Equity Research division has about 40 senior analysts covering approximately 500 companies in nine main sectors: Communications, Consumer & Business Services, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrial, Media, Real Estate, and Technology. Wachovia Securities is an integrated corporate and investment banking firm that deploys a full range of capital raising, market making and financial advisory services to meet the needs of corporate and institutional clients.

Important Notice: Wachovia Securities is the trade name under which Wachovia Corporation conducts its investment banking, capital markets and institutional securities business through First Union Securities, Inc. ("FUSI"), Member NYSE, NASD, SIPC, and through other bank and non-bank and broker-dealer subsidiaries of Wachovia Corporation, including Wachovia Bank NA ("WBNA").

First Union Securities is the trade name under which Wachovia Corporation conducts its asset management and mutual fund, brokerage and insurance businesses through: (1) First Union Securities, Inc. ("FUSI"), a registered broker-dealer and member NYSE/NASD and SIPC; (2) First Clearing Corporation ("FCC"), a separately registered broker-dealer and member NYSE/NASD and SIPC, providing securities clearance and settlement services; (3) First Union Securities Financial Network Inc., a separately registered broker-dealer and member of the NASD and SIPC providing full-service brokerage services; (4) the Capital Management Group within Wachovia Bank N.A., a national banking association, and its subsidiaries, providing asset management, lending, and fiduciary services; (5) various subsidiaries within Wachovia Corporation providing investment advisory, administrative and other services to the Evergreen and Mentor families of mutual funds; and (6) various wholly-owned state insurance agencies.

Stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other securities offered or sold through Wachovia Corporation or any of its bank or non-bank subsidiaries are not deposits of any bank and are not insured, guaranteed or otherwise protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency; are not endorsed or guaranteed by Wachovia Corporation, WBNA, or any bank; and involve investment risk, including possible loss of principal.