WaMu goes

[kallend 2,230]

Taken over by JP Morgan.

"WaMu fired CEO Kerry Killinger on Sept. 8 and replaced him with Alan Fishman, who was awarded a $7.5 million signing bonus and $1 million salary".

Hmmm.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[pirana 0]

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Taken over by JP Morgan.

"WaMu fired CEO Kerry Killinger on Sept. 8 and replaced him with Alan Fishman, who was awarded a $7.5 million signing bonus and $1 million salary".

Hmmm.

I think I just read he gets to keep about $13 million. That's the total of the signing bonus and severance.

WTF!? Three weeks on the job and he gets a $6 million severance! Perfect reflection of the mindset that put us in this mess.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[FallingOsh 0]

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I think I just read he gets to keep about $13 million. That's the total of the signing bonus and severance.

WTF!? Three weeks on the job and he gets a $6 million severance! Perfect reflection of the mindset that put us in this mess.

Very true, but to be fair he's not the one who put them in that mess. I totally agree it's the wrong midset, but he was President when the company was sold... not really fair to be mad at him if he's not responsible for running the company into the ground.

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Stay positive and love your life.

[rushmc 23]

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I think I just read he gets to keep about $13 million. That's the total of the signing bonus and severance.

WTF!? Three weeks on the job and he gets a $6 million severance! Perfect reflection of the mindset that put us in this mess.

Very true, but to be fair he's not the one who put them in that mess. I totally agree it's the wrong midset, but he was President when the company was sold... not really fair to be mad at him if he's not responsible for running the company into the ground.

anybody know the details about the one he replaced?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[riddler 0]

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WTF!? Three weeks on the job and he gets a $6 million severance! Perfect reflection of the mindset that put us in this mess.

Remember that the WAMU takeover was forced by the Fed, it wasn't their choice. Usually in a forced takeover, the execs that are replaced are entitled to their "golden parachutes".

I've tried a lot of banks, and WAMU has always been fair to me. They're not perfect, but they're a decent bank, despite their gamble on high-risk loans. I'm surprised it took them this long to go under - they bet heavily on the housing market.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[riddler 0]

I went into WAMU this morning, and deposited a large check. They were so happy to see me; apparently, everyone has been withdrawing money from WAMU today Why are people such idiots when it comes to money?

WAMU is FDIC insured. That means that everyone gets their money within about two days, even if the entire bank collapses.

If it gets to the point that the FDIC can't cover the losses, then the whole economy is dead, and your dollars are worthless, anyway. What good does it do to have worthless paper under your mattress? I hope all those people out there are at least trying to buy gold or something with the few hundred dollars they took out of their bank accounts. You might even get a quarter-ounce for that

Now, if you were unfortunate enough to own stock in the bank, you're pretty much screwed right now. I think that people with money in the bank are under the false impression that they own stock in the company.

As a side note, there was a blurb in the paper that said that if they had not negotiated a buy-out from JP Morgan Chase, the FDIC would have been completely depleted trying to cover WAMU's defaults. Anyone know if that's true? I think the people crunching numbers were confusing bad mortgage debt with monetary deposits.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[billvon 3,173]

> What good does it do to have worthless paper under your mattress?

Exactly! Silver dimes are a much better investment.

[riddler 0]

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Exactly! Silver dimes are a much better investment.

Shhhhh - let's not tell them, the dimes are really just cupronickel.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[kelpdiver 2]

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WAMU is FDIC insured. That means that everyone gets their money within about two days, even if the entire bank collapses.

where did you get such a rosy impression? It could be a lot longer than 2 days if it ever got to such a point. (How long did it take for people to get their tax rebate checks?)

But typically what happens is what happened here - someone else took over the assets and liabilities.

[riddler 0]

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someone else took over the assets and liabilities.

Yeah, it was the government. Who then negotiated a fire-sale. JP Morgan Chase has leveraged two heavyweight buyouts this year, and with the help of the Fed, stole them both. If they can survive the burden, they are going to be at the top of the heap.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[kallend 2,230]

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Exactly! Silver dimes are a much better investment.

Shhhhh - let's not tell them, the dimes are really just cupronickel.

The mint still issues special collector sets that have a high silver content.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 3,173]

> let's not tell them, the dimes are really just cupronickel.

That's why 1946-1964 dimes are such a good deal. Heck, melt em down and you get almost a buck worth of silver out of them! And, of course, their composition was guaranteed by the Mint, and they are illegal to duplicate.

[stitch 0]

I just wanna know which bookie to contact for bank failure bingo.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[nanook 1]

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WAMU is FDIC insured. That means that everyone gets their money within about two days, even if the entire bank collapses.

where did you get such a rosy impression? It could be a lot longer than 2 days if it ever got to such a point. (How long did it take for people to get their tax rebate checks?)

But typically what happens is what happened here - someone else took over the assets and liabilities.

We closed our accounts primarily due to the fact that the platinum checking interest became a lot lower than our other bank (we originally opened the accounts because we had one of our mortgages through them)

Also, we didn't know if there was going to be an extra wait time if the FDIC kicked in or if there was a sort of line to wait in. With me deployed and my wife lugging around an infant, the prospect of her waiting around helped make our decision.

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"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln

[NWFlyer 2]

My accounts and mortgage are there. I kept the accounts there because I figured that exactly what would happen, happened. Yes, I gambled on some (temporary) lack of liquidity with my checking/savings/HELOC accounts, but it all turned out fine. I figured the fire sale buyer would be Wells Fargo, but it's Chase, and so I'll end up with new letterhead and new cards blah blah blah and at some point policies will change and I may decide it's worth it to move things over.

But in the midst of a lot of busy-ness in my life, the hassle factor of closing my accounts, and moving my direct deposit, and automatic withdrawals over to another account just wasn't worth it. My money was (and is) safe.

As for the mortgage - mine's one of the good ones (you know, where the homeowner is still PAYING!) but if Chase doesn't want to hang onto it, it'll probably get sold to someone else (that is, if I don't sell the house before they get around to deciding what to do with it). No skin off my back.

I'm disappointed to see WAMU go down - they really were a user-friendly bank, and I can't imagine things will stay the same with Chase (though I have very little experience with them other than a couple of credit cards). But having re-financed my mortgage with them in April 2007, I can see how they got themselves into this kind of situation - they were giving away money like candy.

Mortgage guy: "How much do you want to take out?"

Me: "Um, nothing."

Mortgage guy: "You've got a huge amount of equity in this market. Are you sure?

Me: "Yes, I'm here to refinance because I had a 5/1 ARM and I'd like to lock in a fixed rate. I want a new mortgage that will pay off that old mortgage."

Mortgage guy: "Positive?"

Me: "Yes, I'm positive!"

[skydyvr 0]

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I went into WAMU this morning, and deposited a large check.

Same here, and not worried at all, unless Chase changes the "free" aspects of doing business there.

. . =(_8^(1)

[nanook 1]

That was nice to read in these times. I like to hear financial happy endings

_____________________________

"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln

[kelpdiver 2]

JPM blows, so yeah, I doubt it will be as nice a bank.

I'm wondering what will happen to my bank (First Republic), which was purchased by Merrill a year back. Someone else owns it now. Hopefully they'll continue to leave it alone.

[kallend 2,230]

Looks like Wachovia may be next.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kallend 2,230]

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Taken over by JP Morgan.

"WaMu fired CEO Kerry Killinger on Sept. 8 and replaced him with Alan Fishman, who was awarded a $7.5 million signing bonus and $1 million salary".

Hmmm.

I think I just read he gets to keep about $13 million. That's the total of the signing bonus and severance.

WTF!? Three weeks on the job and he gets a $6 million severance! Perfect reflection of the mindset that put us in this mess.

According to a WaMu filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fishman, who replaced Kerry Killinger as WaMu CEO on Sept. 8, signed an agreement that would pay him a cash severance of $11.6 million if he is terminated this year or resigns. He also would be allowed to keep his $7.5 million signing bonus.

The WaMu executive with the biggest termination package is Stephen Rotella, president and chief operating officer, who is entitled under his current employment agreement to a cash severance of $12.7 million if he is terminated or quits with “good reason.”

Meanwhile, CFO Thomas Casey would receive a cash severance of $6.3 million if he is fired or quits with good reason.

Both Rotella and Casey also could receive millions more in non-cash severance compensation under their employment agreements

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[NWFlyer 2]

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That was nice to read in these times. I like to hear financial happy endings

My ARM was a good move for me at the time (when I, quite honestly, couldn't see living in the place longer than 5 years), and I re-financed to a fixed at the right time (when rates were still low). What I saved in the 4 1/2 years of having the ARM at a very low rate more than offset the cost of the re-fi. Of course, I didn't use the ARM to buy more house than I could afford.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be happy with Chase as a bank ... but it'll be at least a few months till they have time to start making changes in WaMu's existing policies. That'll buy me time to pick the least objectionable of the remaining players. I suppose I could go back to having all my money in a credit union (which are really the last consumer-friendly institutions out there) but I do like the ATM access convenience of a national bank.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke