I just had a few customers come over from Wamu with checks asking if we could cash them because Wamu didn’t have the money to cover it. The checks were less than $10,000. The smallest check was 2K…
Hmmmm… I wonder what’s going on? :neutral:

lots of rumors that wamu is going bankrupt on wallstreet. They are actively seeking mergers

tough times ahead

I know at least one politician who has been predicting this for over 10 years

Oh yah, their stock closed at $2.01 today. Their 52 week high was $39.25

It was $1.50 yesterday

skatchkins wrote:It was $1.50 yesterday

yah that 51 cent bounce is probably based on speculation and hopes of a merger / buyout

You see it allot with the penny stocks

more news

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Construction starts on new homes plunged to a 17-1/2-year low during August as builders scaled back sharply to try to cope with the worst slump in U.S. housing since the Great Depression.... source

Its bad in the market... Chase is now doing Home equity loans at 50% LTV (total loan to value). Wells Fargo is at 75% LTV...

Any and all loans will now need proof of income. No more stated income...even on small personal loans.

fatbob309 wrote:Its bad in the market... Chase is now doing Home equity loans at 50% LTV (total loan to value). Wells Fargo is at 75% LTV...

Any and all loans will now need proof of income. No more stated income...even on small personal loans.

Honestly, I think its a good thing they are requiring proof of income. I did a few stated income loans for my other house and it was a joke how easy it was to make yourself look qualified. Part of our problem is the lending practices of banks and investment firms over the last few years. They gave out money to people who really weren't qualified and now are paying the consequences.

Bob, I told you several months ago that Chase would own WAMU by the end of the year. :lol: I'm sure that prediction will hold true. Only the MEGA banks with enough cash on hand from multiple sources will be able to survive a time when people are making small runs on banks like WAMU. The fed bailing out AIG and with Bear a few months ago and now Merril and Lehman taking dives people are more willing to stuff their cash in their houses than they are in any financial services firm. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if you don't start seeing a rash of home burglaries to go along with it.

Yahoo has a great article about the current financial situation in the US. Worth reading

The financial crisis that began 13 months ago has entered a new, far more serious phase.

Lingering hopes that the damage could be contained to a handful of financial institutions that made bad bets on mortgages have evaporated. New fault lines are emerging beyond the original problem -- troubled subprime mortgages -- in areas like credit-default swaps, the credit insurance contracts sold by American International Group Inc. and others firms. There's also a growing sense of wariness about the health of trading partners.

The consequences for companies and chief executives who tarry -- hoping for better times in which to raise capital, sell assets or acknowledge losses -- are now clear and brutal, as falling share prices and fearful lenders send troubled companies into ever-deeper holes. This weekend, such a realization led John Thain to sell the century-old Merrill Lynch & Co. to Bank of America Corp. Each episode seems to bring intervention by the government that is more extensive and expensive than the previous one, and carries greater risk of unintended consequences.

Expectations for a quick end to the crisis are fading fast. "I think it's going to last a lot longer than perhaps we would have anticipated," Anne Mulcahy, chief executive of Xerox Corp., said Wednesday.

"This has been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. There is no question about it," said Mark Gertler, a New York University economist who worked with fellow academic Ben Bernanke, now the Federal Reserve chairman, to explain how financial turmoil can infect the overall economy. "But at the same time we have the policy mechanisms in place fighting it, which is something we didn't have during the Great Depression."


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One of the really bad things I have seen from the AIG situation is that they are claiming 1 trillion dollars in assets yet current management hasn't been able to keep capital available to at least cover interest payments on their lines of credit. So we get to levy 85 billion of taxpayers money to own 79% of the largest insurance agency in the US. So how much confidence does that give you this month or next when you go to pay your insurance premiums?

... there is not enough beer...

I think that's what a lot of people are thinking. :lol: Probably why gold was up 70 bucks an ounce today.

alanzona wrote:... there is not enough beer...

Me on the other hand after 11 years of building my 401k and profit sharing with my company made the decision to actually withdraw all of my money today since I no longer work there. Yes I am taking a tax hit right now, but my outside investments that I soley choose have been on par to at least break even this year and my corporate accounts are down 20% as of today. Small favors and a quick morning decision kept me from taking another huge hit today. I'll be able to make the tax difference up on my own in less than 6 months and still save myself a lot on taxes later in my life.

Of course it's also times like these that I'm glad we haven't gone to "private" social security accounts yet in life. There would be millions of Americans that wouldn't have a dime for retirement if that were the case. Damn I'm glad I paid attention to the interesting classes involving cyclical market movements in college. :lol:

You know, the guys that sold our company made a bunch of money from the transaction... they have it all in short paper money market right now while they "decide what to do"... they were absolutly sick when they saw the oldest money market firm in the US broke a buck today...

There's a lot of people that are trying to get them to take the fencing down on the observation deck of the empire state building right now. :(

Personally I've never had a notion to get into the currency markets, but shorting the dollar right now could probably be a pretty lucrative affair in the short term.

alanzona wrote:You know, the guys that sold our company made a bunch of money from the transaction... they have it all in short paper money market right now while they "decide what to do"... they were absolutly sick when they saw the oldest money market firm in the US broke a buck today...

Clarification: short paper as in 30 day terms, not shorting the dollar. I bet is someone was unAmerican enough to short the dollar right now, they might just make a killing... }:) These are strange times, but the market is cyclical and it will balance in the long run.

alanzona wrote:Clarification: short paper as in 30 day terms, not shorting the dollar. I bet is someone was unAmerican enough to short the dollar right now, they might just make a killing... }:) These are strange times, but the market is cyclical and it will balance in the long run.

Alan, I know what you were talking about. I just have a tendency to go off on my own tangents about things at times. :lol:

WAMU went bankrupt

Bailout bill just failed to pass in the House

Markets down 500+ points

offroadaz wrote:WAMU went bankrupt

Bailout bill just failed to pass in the House

Markets down 500+ points

Hold on because we are in for one hell of a ride...

I don't like this ride can I get off and just watch?