Washington Mutual - CNN

[Flamingo]

Last night on CNN Washington Mutual was mentioned as possibly being in trouble. I know there were grumblings in the recent past about WAMU. I don't have time this a.m. to investigate further as I am out the door in a few minutes to head to work so anyone with accounts with WAMU should look into things further.

[bookwyrm]

Wachovia

I was flipping the channels yesterday and landed one of the news channels (not sure which one though) and there was a panel of experts discussing the happenings on Wall Street and Lehman Brothers. I heard one of the gentlemen say that Wachovia was in trouble as well.

[magyar123]

On last Thursday's 6 pm local (Sacramento, CA) TV news the first item was that Washington Mutual "might" go under "soon". I bought into this story and on Friday morning closed my accounts with them and went across the street to a credit union.

[layla17]

Good idea, I am doing the same thing today before I lose any money.

[WhatMoney]

Unless you have more than $100,000 in individual accounts, $200,000 in a joint account, or $250,000 in a retirement account with WAMU, there is no way you will lose any money no matter what happens to WAMU. Closing your account if you have less than the above amounts makes no sense. The worst thing that could happen is your ATM cash withdrawls might be limited to $200 for the weekend if they announced on a Friday night. But by Monday the FDIC would be in charge and your account service would continue on as usual. Bank runs by small account holders are based on misinformation and fear.

Now if you have some major problem with their banking service or your account is about to get levied, that may be a good reason to switch.

Actually WAMU has a good chance of being bought out by another bank - in which case nothing happens to your personal account at all. It is only the shareholders that lose in this bank consolidation game. I assume none of you own WAMU stock today - if so you should have sold last year when their problems became well known. WAMU stock was at $42 in July 2007. They announced poor earnings from the subprime business in the middle of July 2007 and their stock started to drop. Tonight it is just above $2 (2.19) after hitting a low of $1.50 today. They have been on everyone's watch list the entire year.

[Cali]

Thank goodness I don't have WAMU or Wachovia.

[magyar123]

True - retail banking, branches, accounts, etc. might remain - BUT rumors are floating around that it will be either Chase, Citi, or B of A acquiring those.

[Cali]

Of course, because one of them wants to be the top dog.

True - retail banking, branches, accounts, etc. might remain - BUT rumors are floating around that it will be either Chase, Citi, or B of A acquiring those.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Hey Folks; hasn’t anyone ever watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”? The panic withdrawals could become self fulfilling. We are WAY ahead of the average as WE have discovered what may come. The second great depression. Depends who gets voted in. (won’t go there). It is now coming out in the wash why WE are in the trouble we have gotten ourselves into. Not to say, that unwise desire for things we don’t need just want, and easy credit. NOW, I hope WE have all learned. Get back to basics. BTW I have made my first order from AngelFoodMinistries.com and with great expectations. We purchased $100 and should get us through the month. (except for beer, lolol)

[WhatMoney]

True - retail banking, branches, accounts, etc. might remain - BUT rumors are floating around that it will be either Chase, Citi, or B of A acquiring those.

That brings up the question - what if you have creditors, credit card debt, with Chase, Citi, or BA, and a WAMU checking/savings account? Will your WAMU accounts be safe from your creditors if they are also now your bank?

In my case all my CC debts have been sold to 3rd party collectors, JDB's, and the original banks have no more interest in them so I am safe. WAMU also did nothing when they acquired Providian credit and I had a Providian debt, before it was sold off. But I wouldn't assume Chase, Citi, or BA would have the same policy.

[banca rotta]

The second great depression. Depends who gets voted in.

So true. Anyone that we vote in will cause problems. Those that won't cause problems are not running.

[DisneyGirl]

I have some questions about this if any of you know.

We bank with WaMu. I'm not panicking and pulling out my money since I've been through banks being bought out before. It really was painless.

But since we have a BK on our records I'm a little concerned about some things. For starters we were discharged 4 year ago so it's been a while. But I just read that Citigroup is considering putting a bid up for WaMu.

*If* Citigroup takes over they would become our bank. So here's the questions, if we BK'd Citibank CCs, are we going to have problems with Citigroup? My husband and I both had separate cards with them that went through the BK. Also right now we both have WaMu CCs. No balance but hubby does have a promotional zero interest thing going on. In a buyout, would those terms change? That is just a curiosity question. No big deal but would stink.

Thanks for any insight.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I have some questions about this if any of you know.

We bank with WaMu. I'm not panicking and pulling out my money since I've been through banks being bought out before. It really was painless.

But since we have a BK on our records I'm a little concerned about some things. For starters we were discharged 4 year ago so it's been a while. But I just read that Citigroup is considering putting a bid up for WaMu.

*If* Citigroup takes over they would become our bank. So here's the questions, if we BK'd Citibank CCs, are we going to have problems with Citigroup? My husband and I both had separate cards with them that went through the BK. Also right now we both have WaMu CCs. No balance but hubby does have a promotional zero interest thing going on. In a buyout, would those terms change? That is just a curiosity question. No big deal but would stink.

Thanks for any insight.

[DisneyGirl]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think it would be to bad but with the BK, you never know.

So dumb question but I must ask it, if this did happen we'd be banking with a bank we BK'd. Can they come after us for the money we were discharged or if it's discharged we're clear from it? I know, I should know this answer but we didn't take out much credit post BK, just the WaMu cards.

[Cali]

I don't see how they could possibly do anything to you, since you are discharged.