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It's Sunday night again friends. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

HOUSTON, March 14, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Washington Mutual shareholders (Stock Symbols: WAMUQ, WAHUQ, WAMPQ, WAMKQ) and WamuTruth.com staff were shocked to discover on Friday that Brian Rosen, council for WMI, has agreed to a proposed "settlement" with JP Morgan and the FDIC of all outstanding litigation and claims without consultation or discussion with the Official Equity Committee of Washington Mutual. This unprecedented surrender involves giving away all of the company's rightful assets and claims for a pittance to the detriment of all equity stakeholders in the company. This proposed settlement was clearly done with no regard to the rights...

It's Sunday night again friends. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

A listener to Washington, DC's news talk radio station WAMU - 88.5FM (an NPR station) wrote the following today in the D.C. Radio & Television web site's Mailbag section (www.dcrtv.com)-- "Dear DCRTV: Diane Rehm on her 01/22/10 10am domestic politics show on WAMU said that "Republicans have wanted to kill Obama from the time he was elected." None of the guests said a word in response. Is Diane getting too old for the show or is she just showing her true colors? Her comment deserves some media attention. It's outrageous. Rgds. lanzil (1/22/10)" I was appalled. I've included a link...

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair made special mention of Washington Mutual (WAMUQ.PK) in her opening statement before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission last week, and her comments bear close scrutiny for a couple of reasons. First, the mention of any company is interesting because regulators in general don't like to mention specific companies. In fact, not mentioning companies when speaking publicly seems to be a special trick of not only regulators, but investors, investment bankers, attorneys -- you name it. They must all take the same PR class. Lesson number one: Speak in generalities....

It's Sunday night again. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

It's Sunday night again. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

It's Sunday night again. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

The WaMu bankruptcy just got a little more interesting. Washington Mutual, the bankruptcy holding company, is asking a court to compel the FDIC, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and several ratings agencies to turn over emails and other documents relating to JPMorgan's acquisition of the bank. Reuters (via The New York Times) has a report here. Zach Lowe of The Am Law Daily has a report, including a breakdown of the legal teams, here. Reuters: The company wants to investigate discussions between JPMorgan Chase, regulators, competitors and rating agencies it said led to the seizure of Washington Mutual, or WMI, according to...

The Puget Sound Business Journal for months has asked the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the federal agency that regulated Washington Mutual, to release internal communications between WaMu's regulators. The newspaper made its requests under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, the decades-old law that requires federal agencies to disclose public documents. Of particular interest were internal emails, which could help explain why regulators seized the bank in September 2008 even though WaMu appeared to meet regulatory standards for operating banks, despite its burden of bad loans. (You can read the second installment of our six-month investigation about that decision...

Botton line:It was about "Obama's Favorite Banker," Jamie Dimon, wanting more of a West Coast banking presence, but Portfolio.com in an investigative piece has some of the details of how the government simply ripped WaMu from its shareholders and gave it to Jamie. Here are some excerpts about the gift to Jamie and what it means for banking overall: WaMu’s regulators said they based their decision to close the bank and sell it to JPMorgan Chase on lack of liquidity—its access to ready cash—and the mounting pile of failed mortgage loans that were expected to cripple the bank’s earnings for...

At a get-out-the-vote rally in Fairfax County, Moran said: “I mean, if the Republicans were running in Afghanistan, they’d be running on the Taliban ticket as far as I can see.” Moran was talking about Republicans Robert F. McDonnell for governor, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and state Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, who is running for attorney general. By some accounts, the three represent the most conservative Republican ticket to run in Virginia in many years. Moran’s comments clearly were aimed to motivate Democratic voters to turn out on Tuesday and vote blue. According to WAMU, McDonnell spokeswoman Crystal Cameron...

"Not even the guys at Washington Mutual know about this." Yet somehow CNBC found out. This video is a gem because it's probably the only existing report in mainstream press with any questions about the seizure of Washington Mutual. Once the FDIC formally announced the seizure the propaganda machine was turned on and the only thing that was repeated over and over was that JP Morgan had saved the day and that it was simply "Business as usual". The bank was likely seized on a Thursday to keep them from transferring 16+ billion dollars from WaMu fsb, a subsidiary which...

It's Sunday night again. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

Did the Feds Just Gift JPM another $50 billion in Taxpayer Bailout Dollars! According to the Purchase and Assumption Agreement dated 25 Sept 2008, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had until this past Monday to adjust to fair value, the selling price of the assets of Washington Mutual Bank. During the financial chaos of September 2008, the FDIC, in coordination with the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Treasury, deemed the 100 year old bank "unfit to conduct business", and sold the assets and deposits for a hastily arranged deal with JPMorgan Chase for a questionable $1.88b. Left behind...

It's Sunday night. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

It's Sunday night. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio programs. Listen Live Info

Every Sunday for years I listen to the Big Broadcast 7 - 11pm est. Never thought to offer it to other Freepers. The Big Broadcast runs popular radio programs from the '30s, '40s and '50s. Listen Live Info

As consensus builds that the recession is over, some are crediting Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s stewardship and all but re-nominating him by acclamation. But others worry that declaring the recession over is a tad premature. “I would be hesitant to declare the recession over while unemployment remains so dire,” said George Selgin, professor of economics at the Terry College of Business at UGA and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. Even if the recession were ending, Selgin thinks it would be a mistake to credit the Fed with the recovery. (It’s not a religious...

When the deal was struck in September, J.P. Morgan Chase’s purchase of most of the collapsed Washington Mutual Bank looked like a master stroke, a $1.88 billion purchase price for operations expected to boost annual earnings more than $2 billion. In the first quarter alone, revenue jumped 48%, in part reflecting the impact of the WaMu purchase. But at least part of the deal is getting a second look, as Delaware Judge Mary Walrath on Friday granted a motion from the thrift’s parent, Washington Mutual Inc., to examine J.P. Morgan’s books. [more]