WaMu Falls on Rescue Plan; TD Said to Mull Making Bid

[jaybeat]

Source: Bloomberg.com

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Mutual Inc., the lender that put itself up for sale last week, fell 22 percent in New York on concern a $700 billion government-sponsored bank bailout plan won't erase enough of its soured mortgages to lure bidders.

``There could be an in-limbo case, where potential buyers are unwilling to take on WaMu's troubled mortgage book until issues are ironed out,'' CreditSights Inc. analyst David Hendler wrote in a note to investors today. ``But the company needs to raise incremental capital in the meantime.''

Toronto-Dominion Bank joined JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Banco Santander SA as potential bidders for WaMu, and talks extended through the weekend, according to a person familiar with the matter. While bidders are primarily interested in WaMu's 2,300 branches and $143 billion in retail deposits, they must also contend with up to $19 billion in mortgage losses during the next 2-1/2 years.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aqcG4FCumuXw&refer=us

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Great. Looks like we've got a high-stakes game of "chicken" going on here. "Investors" are threatening to let more banks fail if they don't like the bailout terms. And I fear it will be a rerun of "The Corporate Congress Critter Always Blinks First."

[mainegreen]

1. Gah! I hope TD stays away from WAMU.

x(

[TrogL]

14. Why? They're the solidest bank in Canada

And most branches are open 8-8 and 10-3 on Saturdays.

[mainegreen]

15. Because WAMU isn't solid.

TD is my bank. They've avoided most of this crap.

Why start now?

[tridim]

2. If my mortgage is sold to a Canadian bank, can I become a Canadian citizen by default?

[Caradoc]

3. The thing about TD....

...they're the Canadian Bank with the most exposure to the mortgage meltdown (CIBC had some too). They've always been chomping at the bit to get in there, but regulations here are somewhat tighter. They should thank their lucky stars the former Chretien government kept 'em out of it. In fact, all bank mergers here are still watched very closely...

[bluesmail]

7. Off subject, LOL your McCain picture. HA!

[TommyO]

9. Hmm, my mom's mortgage is with WAMU, I would love to know the answer to that!

Somewhat off-topic, do you know if there's a larger version of the McCain with lipstick available? I want to print it and share it at work!

[tridim]

11. Sorry, I only made a sig-line version of that pic. nt

[Cronopio]

4. "... until issues are ironed out ..."

What issues?! There are either buyers or there aren't. Now that the cat is *completely* out of the bag do they really delude themselves that someone somewhere is going to bail them out?

Jesus. They're like rats at the pellet machine - "just keep pulling that lever ... something's bound to come out sometime."

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. More like the cocaine rats:

Keep pulling the cocaine lever, not eating or drinking, until they die.

[Cronopio]

13. Yep - profit junkies will kill the profit machine just to get one more fix. nt

[slewfoot]

5. I wouldn't think that anyone with an acumen(sp) for business

would entertain a buyout or merger with WAMU.
I truly believe that when WAMU fails, we will really see the shit hit the fan (i.e. bank run)
Just my two cents, FWIW

[mcjackson]

6. great...

...i just switched to WaMu a few months ago..............

[Roland99]

8. Thought news on WaMu was awfully quiet the last couple of days.

Thanks.

[Xithras]

12. Up 48% on Friday. Down 22% today.

Still up on last week, and still WAY up on my $1.80 buy. My bet, at this point, is that WM will either pull through or get bought. I really don't think they'll go bankrupt (unless there's a run) so my stockholdings should be safe.