Goodbye WaMu

[crokett]

was a huge tax write-down.

Yep. My company has bought failing companies who have technology they wanted for this reason as well.

[Tom Slick]

So, does anyone bank at JPMorgan Chase? Apparently I do now http://www.chase.com/welcomewamu/

[Hoover]

I guess I do now, my home loan was with WaMu. In fact I was listening to the radio this morning and there was an ad hawking business loans with lightning quick approvals. No wonder they failed. I never really cared for WaMu. In fact, my home loan has been sold now for the 6th time in 10 years.

[lrogers]

Guess it's my fault WAMU failed. They spent all their assests on postage sending me three credit card offers a week for the last year!

[Uncle Cracker]

I walked into my WAMU branch this morning to deposit a check, and the usual tellers were there... After the usual pleasantries were exchanged, I grinned and said "So... What's new??". They busted out laughing all over the place. I guess they were in need of a tension-breaker...

[Sid]

Not sure you were at WaMu risk

I had some WaMu Funds in the grandkids 529 plans until July. When the funds began fade, I 'exchanged' them for government bond funds. Did I luck out?

Regards, Steve

I don't claim any special expertise in this area, and I may not understand what you meant by "WaMu Funds." But if WaMu was the broker through which you bought mutual funds, managed by other companies and holding shares of many companies, then WaMu is supposed to be holding those mutual fund shares for you, and they would still be yours even when WaMu failed. That's different from depository account money, which WaMu in the normal course of business loans to others, and which are covered by FDIC insurance. Even if a broker takes your money and fraudulently fails to purchase the mutual funds for you, I think SIPC insurance covers that up to $500,000.

Nothing insures you against market loss in mutual funds, but if that was what you had, they may have faded because the market in general was down, not because WaMu was failing. And unless the mutual funds held WaMu stock, they wouldn't be directly affected by WaMu's failure.

If I'm misunderstanding something here, I hope somebody 'splains it for me.

Sid