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California Progress Report (Free subscription) | yesterday
Congress Banking Committees Asked to Hold Oversight Hearings by California Reinvestment Coalition By Alan Fisher and Victoria Leon Guerrero California Reinvestment Coalition Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all disappeared without public input; the nation’s two remaining investment banks have become bank holding companies also without public scrutiny;...
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UK Libertarian Party (Free subscription) | yesterday
As we've noted previously , JPMorgan Chase got out of securitising subprime mortgages when the market was still booming, and escaped so unscathed from the recent market meltdown that it was able to take advantage and acquire both Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Even after having written off $5.8 billion in recent times, it still managed to turn in a half billion in profits during the last quarter....
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CNNMoney.com (Free subscription) | yesterday
JPMorgan Chase reported a surprise quarterly profit Wednesday, even as the company took a hit related to its purchase of failed savings and loan Washington Mutual and warned of earnings pressure in the months ahead.
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GuruFocus Updates (Free subscription) | 10/14/2008
Bill Nygren had a tough year, as his largest holding Washington Mutual become insolvent. He sold his position before that, but still had large loss. The third quarter was a good quarter for him, as his fund lost only 1%. He bought American Express (AXP â $35) and Boeing (BA â $57). Bill Nygren Letter to Shareholders Iâm writing this letter on the last day of the quarter. The stock market fell...
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Consumerism Commentary (Free subscription) | 10/12/2008
There’s no doubt that the banking industry has had a tough time over the past month. Interest rates have fluctuated. Most notably, ING Direct’s Orange Savings Account is now at 2.75% APY and Washington Mutual’s Online Savings Account is now tun by JP Morgan Chase and offers 3.0% APY. Here are more updated [...]
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Dictionopolis in Digitopolis (Free subscription) | 10/11/2008
Washington Mutual implodes? Times are tough. Lehman Brothers is gone? Time for some belt tightening. But Mother’s Cookies? This, my friends, is a tragedy. The news that the venerable onetime Oakland institution has gone to the great cookie jar in the sky hurts, and not just because it’s yet another sign of how our national economy is about as stable as a flaky flix. You get that? Because of the economy,...
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DealBreaker (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
Okay, in all seriousness, I kind of get why hedge funds would be upset that their investor letters are being forwarded around but come on-- how could we resist putting up note about how you did not see the whole Washington Mutual as a bad investment idea thing coming? Anyway, it doesn't really matter what we think, it matters what your investors think, and they want a dissemination of the truth. You...
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Market Watch (Free subscription) | 10/10/2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Torchmark Corp. on Friday said it expects its third-quarter net income to fall to 72 cents a share from $1.41 a share in third quarter of 2007. The decline is due to a $70 million charge from a writedown of debt issued by AIG, Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research are projecting the insurance holding company to earn $1.49 a share...
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Climateer Investing (Free subscription) | 10/09/2008
Two parts. First from MarketBeat: The Looming Lehman CDS Unwind On the heels of similar auction processes for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Washington Mutual late last month will be the expected Friday settlement for buyers of about $400 billion of protection on Lehman Brothers debt . For now, traders in the equity market are concerned about the prospects for the settlement, adding that its uncertainty...
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Consumerism Commentary (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
Less than a month ago, Washington Mutual increased the interest rate offered on the bank’s savings account to 4.0% APY. This came as the bank was trying to attract capital. Since then, WaMu was in danger of failing and was acquired by JPMorgan Chase. On September 26, I wrote: There is no need to panic or [...]
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fivecentnickel.com (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008
A reader named William wrote in recently to point out that, as expected, Washington Mutual (WaMu) has cut the interest rate on their online savings account to 3.00% APY, dropping them from being a rate leader to being middle of the pack. Apparently they no longer need to pay a premium to attract (or retain) [...]
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Market Wire - Class Action (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008
CORAL GABLES, FL (MARKET WIRE) The Securities Arbitration Law Firm of Tramont Guerra & Núñez, PA (TGN) makes an announcement to Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) shareholders concerning the class action period. The Washington Mutual class action lawsuit (Case No. 07 CV 09801) class period, which runs from July 19, 2006 to October 31, 2007, does not include losses during the 2008 market decline. Since the...
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Seeking Alpha (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008
Stephen Hsu submits: How do CDS contracts get settled after a credit event? We've had several recently, which means upcoming auctions (see also here ). Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) auctions were October 6 (yesterday), Lehman is October 10, and Washington Mutual is scheduled for October 23. Since Treasury is guaranteeing the GSE debt, October 6 was probably not as much of a problem as the...
