Washington Mutual Stock Down More Than 25%; Analyst Says It Faces $28 Billion In Losses

EconomcPolicyJournal.com ^

[Kozman]

WaMu shares were down over 25% in midday trading. Lehman Brothers analysts in a note Monday said WaMu could be forced to substantially boost its reserves to cover an estimated $28 billion of losses on the balance sheet, with $21 billion coming from mortgages.

[SoConPubbie]

I wonder if any of their losses can be attributed to their racist advertising campaign?

[RightWhale]

Who is the analyst? Schumer?

[scan59]

I wonder if any of their losses can be attributed to their racist advertising campaign?

Their ads always bothered me too. Young hip black guy putting down old, experienced white bankers.

I bank there because I get a 3.30% savings rate. Never cared for the way they maintain their facilities at the local branches though, with their ATMs more often down than up.

[politicket]

Who is the analyst? Schumer?

LOL!!

It was interesting to see National City actually halt trading on their stock a little while ago, pending "news". That news turned out to be a statement saying that they are "liquid" and nobody should be concerned with them.

We'll see how "liquid" they actually are over the next few weeks/months.

[frogjerk]

I wonder if any of their losses can be attributed to their racist advertising campaign?

You mean the one with all the old white bankers and the Obama look-a-like smart guy?

[cw35]

“I wonder if any of their losses can be attributed to their racist advertising campaign?”

I wouldn’t be surprised. Old white guys don’t like being made fun of at the expense of young arrogant, cocky black guys (Obama types). There are more old white guys with money than young cocky black guys.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Some guy at Lehman trying to deflect attention away from his own company.

[GOPJ]

Is Bush going to bail these losers out too?

[Miss Didi]

I haven’t seen their ad campaign but their lack of a dress code leaves me speechless...the guys at one Manhattan branch wear really big flashy earrings.

[GOP_Proud]

They’ve just begun advertising in my area. They come across as maggot infested, tree hugging, fm... types. I’m already sick of “Whoo Hoo”!

[glide625]

Yea, they suck; their staff sucks; I’d be just as happy to see’em go down the crapper and they can take their employees with them straight to the whirling turd pond at the local water sewage treatment plant!

[CharlesWayneCT]

It seems every couple of days Lehman comes out and downgrades another company, and that company’s stock tanks.

If you worked for Lehman, you could be making a killing shorting the stocks they were about to trash.

Oh wait, that would be illegal, wouldn’t it.

So there’s no chance Lehman is making a killing by taking down their competitors through these announcements, one by one?

[blackdog]

I was talking with two farmer neighbors of mine this morning. They get it. Since the big money players are out of realestate now, they've gone into market manipulation of commodities and tanking stocks to buy low.

$5.00 corn will be $2.00 corn again this fall.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I only wish the people running my mutual funds were that devious. :-)

[Petronski]

It was interesting to see National City actually halt trading on their stock a little while ago, pending "news". That news turned out to be a statement saying that they are "liquid" and nobody should be concerned with them.

Did NCC halt trading of their shares or did the exchanges do that?

The reports are that the shares were dropping on false rumors of a run, but that there WAS no run, just rumors.

[Petronski]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - National City Corp, a large Midwestern bank whose shares fell 27 percent in morning trade on Monday, said depositors and creditors were not engaging in any unusual activity.

The decline in National City’s shares came after IndyMac Bank suffered a run on the bank, forcing regulators on Friday to seize the bank, the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history.

Cleveland-based National City said that it “is experiencing no unusual depositor or credit activity.” It said that as of Friday’s close, it had $12 billion in excess short-term funds available to meet obligations. And because of its recent $7 billion capital raise, the company said it has one of the highest levels of capital among large banks relative to its assets.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins; editing by John Wallace)

[politicket]

Did NCC halt trading of their shares or did the exchanges do that?

NCC probably requested the halt, and then the Exchange obliged. It's getting dicey because the public doesn't trust the banks or the government.

[politicket]

it had $12 billion in excess short-term funds available to meet obligations.

Gee, I wonder where this came from...

[VOA]

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