Today is the Fifth Anniversary of the Collapse of Washington Mutual

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed Sep 25, 2013, 12:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Everyone who held shares of WaMu, speak up. At one time, the shares were going for over $45. WaMu paid a good dividend too. Bill Miller of Legg Mason thought highly of the stock. At the end, the shares were down somewhat.

That hurt.

Washington Mutual
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_mutual

Washington Mutual, Inc., abbreviated to WaMu, was a savings bank holding company and the former owner of Washington Mutual Bank, which was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008.

On Thursday, September 25, 2008, the United States Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) seized Washington Mutual Bank from Washington Mutual, Inc. and placed it into receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The OTS took the action due to the withdrawal of $16.7 billion in deposits during a 9-day bank run (amounting to 9% of the deposits it had held on June 30, 2008). The FDIC sold the banking subsidiaries (minus unsecured debt and equity claims) to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion, which JPMorgan Chase had been planning to acquire as part of a confidential plan internally nicknamed Project West. All WaMu branches were rebranded as Chase branches by the end of 2009. The holding company, Washington Mutual, Inc., was left with $33 billion in assets, and $8 billion debt, after being stripped of its banking subsidiary by the FDIC. The next day, September 26, Washington Mutual, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 voluntary bankruptcy in Delaware, where it is incorporated.

I can recommend this book, by Kirsten Grind:

The Lost Bank

The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History

[gopiscrap]

1. I live in Tacoma, Washington and a bunch of people I know

lost their jobs. Thank Shrub and all his stupid asshole fucking enablers!!!

[KurtNYC]

2. It has been said that "the American Way is to take a good horse...and run it into the ground"

Their ads didn't help matters (eg. who wants to be THIS customer?):