Reply #14: Next up WAMU [View All]

[depakid]

Kinda sad, because once upon a time- for many years, Washington Mutual was a fine institution:

WaMu's wild and rumor-filled week

Pressured by regulators, WaMu's board fired longtime Chief Executive Kerry Killinger on Monday. But its shares, which closed last week at $4.27, closed Friday at $2.73, down 36% for the week, in a further humiliation for what was a $45 stock early last year.

Rumors flew through the mortgage industry all week. One was that Seattle-based WaMu would cease all home lending next week. Another said Citigroup Inc. would step in to buy the thrift. And an industry publication reported Friday that JPMorgan Chase & Co. was in late-stage talks to buy WaMu.

JPMorgan, based in New York, has considered WaMu a tempting target because of its huge branch network in the West. Killinger had forged WaMu largely by acquiring California S&Ls -- American Savings, Great Western, Home Savings -- in the 1990s. Subprime credit-card specialist Providian was added in 2005.

Spokesmen for WaMu and JPMorgan declined to comment, but a person close to JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Friday that no talks were underway.

Another report said WaMu, which has lost more than $6.3 billion over the last three quarters because of growing problems in its mortgage portfolio, might seek to sell some of its far-flung assets, such as branches in New York.

More: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-moneyblog13-2008sep13,0,6457032.story
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A fair guess might be that WAMU should have continued as Washington Mutual- and not gotten caught up in predatory lending.