WAMULLA

PALOOKAVILLE FINANCIAL stardate capitulation day+8

JPMorgan buys WaMu

cnn : "In the biggest bank failure in history, JPMorgan Chase will acquire massive branch network and troubled assets from Washington Mutual for $1.9 billion.

A road to collapse

...WaMu had been one of the most hard-hit banks during the financial crisis after it bet big, like many of its competitors, on the strength of the housing market -- only to see its fortunes sour as housing prices fell.

Following several ratings agency downgrades this week and a freefall in the company's stock, many analysts were speculating that the endgame for the embattled savings and loan was imminent...." cnn

Central banks step in as bail-out fears mount

"The Bank of England moved to inject longer term cash into money markets as part of a co-ordinated effort with the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank, following the breakdown of talks over a $700bn bail-out for the US financial system...." FT

Telegraph : "After appearing earlier to have reached a deal, the seven-hour White House meeting, which was described by Mr McCain's campaign as "a contentious shouting match", broke up after a late rebellion by Republican right-wingers against the plan's huge price-tag.

Leading Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, reacted so angrily to the last-minute change in Republican demands that Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, got down on one knee to beg them not to disclose how badly the meeting had gone, witnesses said.

Mr McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, was personally blamed by Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader. "John McCain did nothing to help - he only hurt the process," Sen Reid said...." my emphasis

THATS A SOUND O A MAN WORKIN ONNA CHAIN GANG

jeff :"Having failed to deliver victory in the War on Terror, President Bush is hoping for better luck in the War on Error. His goal is to limit damage from the egregious mistakes of sub-prime mortgages; his tactics are to carpet-bomb the banking system with federal funds. The upshot, in Jeffersonian terms, is that US taxpayers are about to be enrolled in an economic chain gang....

...In place of rip-roaring markets, according to a Wall Street trader, America has embraced "trickle-down communism". This system involves the state paying "cash for trash" to benefit a few miscreants, and then hoping that some of the taxpayers' largesse will trickle down to the masses.

...Toxic rubbish will not be made to disappear by Mr Paulson's proposals. All that will be different is ownership. It will be like removing nuclear waste from a failing business and parking it in a government building. The risk moves from private to public.

It is this form of regressive redistribution that Messrs Bush and Paulson are peddling as the road to redemption for Western finance. Excuse my cynicism, but would you buy a used derivative from either of them?

After Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans, Mr Bush's record on rescue missions does not inspire confidence. As for Mr Paulson, if he's so insightful, why, when he was earning an $18 million bonus at Goldman in 2006, did he not spot the radio-active dump piling up in his industry's back-yard?... Telegraph

coolhandpetey : goin dahn nah boss...