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’Further further reading
For the commute home, good luck with the St Patrick’s Day crowds,
- Highlights from the WaMu lawsuit.
- Is Germany’s labour market miracle really a mirage?
- The hollowing out of the US labour market.
JPMorgan to cut 9,200 WaMu jobs
JPMorgan Chase said Monday it will eliminate about 9,200 jobs at the former Washington Mutual, which on Sept 25 became the largest US bank to fail, reports Reuters. The cuts amount to more than 21% the work force at WaMu,
JP Morgan’s ‘mark to make-believe’ assets on the rise
JP Morgan’s level three assets rose by $1.3bn in the third quarter, the investment bank said in an SEC filing on Friday.
Level 3 assets represented 6 per cent of its total assets at September 30, JP said.
FDIC expands guarantees as confidence flags
The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation expanded its guarantees after a growing roster of troubled US financial institutions were weakened by sudden deposit withdrawals. FDIC said it would fully protect non-interest bearing accounts used by businesses until the end of 2009,
US agencies probe WaMu failure
Federal prosecutors are investigating the failure of Washington Mutual, citing the “intense public interest” in the largest bank collapse in US history, reports the WSJ. Jeffrey Sullivan, US attorney in Seattle,
The WaMu wipeout: who gets hit?
Everyone has been so caught up with the largest bailout of all time, that they’ve somewhat missed the US’s largest bank failure of all time (trumping Continental Illinois).
Washington Mutual was taken over by the FDIC last night,
Tilting at windmills, central bank edition
US 3-DOLLAR INTERBANK RATES INDICATED AT UPPER END OF 3.7-4.8 PCT RANGE IN EARLY LONDON TRADE.
Despite a $30bn repo auction to be held by the BoE today.
If dollar Libor spreads blow out to that level,
WaMu rating cut again on split-up concerns
Washington Mutual’s credit rating fell deeper into junk territory on Wednesday amid growing concerns that a sale of the embattled bank could split it into pieces. S&P cut WaMu’s counterparty credit rating to CCC from BB,
When banks are downgraded to “E” and still survive, WaMu edition
Is today the day another bank goes to the wall?
Normally, rating agencies downgrade companies to junk or default status after the company has put itself into bankruptcy, or some such.
It’s telling then that with WaMu – still,
WaMu deepens search for a buyer
Washington Mutual was under mounting pressure from regulators on Monday to reach a deal with prospective buyers that would shore up the troubled US bank. The Office of Thrift Supervision is pushing for a speedy solution,
Five banks exploring WaMu records
Five banks have come forward to evaluate Washington Mutual’s financial records as part of an auction process run by WaMu’s adviser, reports the FT. WaMu shares rose 14% on Thursday after it said it had put itself up for sale.
TPG clears way for WaMu sale
TPG, the private equity firm, has taken action to facilitate a sale of ailing Washington Mutual, the largest US savings & loan company, waiving its right to be compensated for dilution from any future capital raising.
WaMu faces price to keep deposits
Washington Mutual may face increased costs to keep the confidence of depositors, say analysts, after the largest US savings and loan institution was downgraded to junk by both S&P and Moody’s. Paying higher rates to sustain the bank’s $143bn deposit base will impede WaMu’s ability to make profits over the long term.
The ‘Japanification’ of Wall Street
Some old Tokyo hands have that creeping feeling of déjà vu when they look across the Pacific at events in the US.
The unfolding crises at Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual – and before, , at Bear Stearns — have some eerily familiar patterns that evoke those days when Japan’s banks seemed physically incapable of calling a bad loan a “bad loan”,
WaMu sees $4.5bn loan loss provision
Washington Mutual, the US savings and loan that lost a third of its value this week, said Thursday it is “well capitalised” with $50bn in liquidity, and forecast a Q3 loan-loss provision of $4.5bn,
Lex on ‘Leh-mu’: Get the lifeboats out
Do you hear that sucking sound?, asks Lex. It’s market whirlpool swallowing not one, but two, large US banks. Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, each with market caps of less than $4bn against their peaks of about $45bn,
WaMu plunges as short sellers move in
Investor concerns about the the US financial sector spread Wednesday as shares in Washington Mutual lost nearly 30% of their value by the close because of rampant short-selling by hedge funds and other investors.
Wamu for you
Here’s an FT Alphaville snapshot of just how bad things are for WaMu this morning.
After ousting CEO Kerry Killinger yesterday, the thrift’s share price slumped as much as 24 per cent. That’s despite suggestions that the new CEO,
WaMu forces out CEO Killinger
Kerry Killinger, who helped build Washington Mutual into the largest US thrift and then presided over its rapid decline, is being ousted as chief executive, reports the WSJ. He will be replaced by Alan Fishman,
US covered bonds? Frederick II would be turning in his grave
Is mortgage securitisation dead? What with Fannie and Freddie unfit for purpose, foreign capital draining from the market, and ratings regarded as more or less worthless, there are plenty of indicators that would have you believe the MBS has left the building
Linda Lowell at Housing Wire assesses the situation in some detail.
Banks post losses, stocks rally
Five of the largest US financial institutions, led by Wachovia and Washington Mutual, reported combined quarterly losses of more than $11bn but their shares jumped an average of 14% on rising hopes that bank stocks have fallen about as low as they can go,
Analysts, FDIC predict more bank failures
What’s happening to the regional banks this afternoon threatens to become a textbook example of a self-fulfilling market prophesy.
National City shares are down more than 25 per cent, even after the bank issued a statement seeking to reassure investors that it was not the next IndyMac.
WaMu culls 1,200 jobs
Washington Mutual said Thursday it eliminated a further 1,200 jobs, following mortgage losses that some analysts have said will keep the largest US savings and loan from turning a profit before 2010, reports Reuters.
Lehman, WaMu, slide on concerns
Shares of Lehman Brothers plunged 13.6% on Wednesday, bringing their total loss in the past four days to more than 25%, on concerns about the potential for further write-downs and investors’ declining confidence in the investment bank’s management,
Wachovia, WaMu, move against CEOs
The fallout from the credit crisis spread to the US retail banking sector on Monday as Wachovia ousted its chief executive. The move came as the Seattle-based bank Washington Mutual stripped its chief executive of his additional role as chairman of the board.
WaMu board director forced out
Angry shareholders on Tuesday forced the resignation of a senior director at Washington Mutual as the chief executive of the troubled mortgage lender said market conditions were the worst since the Great Depression.
WaMu to raise $7bn from outside investors
Washington Mutual, the largest US savings and loan group, will get a $7bn cash infusion from investors to boost its capital and cover losses arising from its subprime mortgages. WaMu, which said it expects a Q1 loss of $1.1bn,
For TPG, it’s new rules for an old sandbox
In the space of about 24 hours, TPG has been showing it’s determination to rewrite — or rather, bend — the conventions of the game. With its war-chest bulging with unspent cash, the buy-out firm has sewn up what it claims is the biggest private equity transaction in Russia:
WaMu poised for $5bn injection
Shares in Washington Mutual, the largest US savings and loan group, rose sharply on Monday as a group of investors led by buy-out firm TPG prepared to invest more than $5bn in the company – about half of it from TPG.
Snap news
The latest,
- Novartis has agreed to buy Nestle’s 25% stake in US eyecare company Alcon for $11bn, with a $28bn option to take a further 52 per cent after January 2010 – Reuters story, press release via Genen News.