WaMu......SeeYou?

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



WaMu May Be Forced to Sell Deposits to Stay Afloat (Update2)

By Elizabeth Hester and Linda Shen

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Mutual Inc., facing up to $19 billion in bad home loans and slammed by a 34 percent drop in its stock this week, may sell parts of a nationwide 2,300- branch network to raise capital.

``The only real asset they have that's worth anything to other banks is the deposit base, because of their branches,'' said L. William Seidman, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from 1985 to 1991. Seattle-based WaMu can probably sell branches in New York and Chicago, said Bert Ely, president of Ely & Co. Inc., a bank consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Alan Fishman, WaMu's new chief executive officer, may have to shed branches that hold $143 billion in deposits. The biggest U.S. savings and loan is headed for its fourth straight quarterly loss. Suitors have walked away because of potential damage to their earnings and WaMu's chief regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, has told it to boost risk management and compliance.

On top of those challenges, Fitch Ratings yesterday cut its rating on WaMu debt to BBB- from BBB, citing a lack of ``flexibility'' to add capital. Moody's Investors Service cut its long-term deposit and issuer ratings to Baa3 from Baa2 because of WaMu's ``reduced financial flexibility, deteriorating asset quality and expected franchise erosion.'' Moody's reduced the senior unsecured rating to below investment grade at Ba2. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=augalzCBGGQc&refer=home

[madrchsod]

1. sure has`t effected the their advertising budget....

they advertise on most of the channels i watch

[driver8]

2. Hmmm...looks like I should be looking for a new bank! n/t