CaptainCourtesy

Question for someone who might understand this situation better than I. I have a WaMU credit card with a high available balance that I was about to consolidate all of my other credit cards to. Is this no longer a good idea?

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roguenuke

I heard something on the news that said that at least part of the reason WaMu failed was because of "a classic 10-day run on the bank". Since I don't care too much about banks as long as I can still get the money I put into them out when I need it, I was just wondering if this was literal like what happened to cause the Great Depression, people being scared that they will lose the money they put into the bank, so everybody starts taking it out all at once? Or did it have more to do with stocks being sold than actual withdrawals from the bank? Also, it seems to me that the media might be making this worse, because the more they specifically list which bank might go next, the more people get worried that their money will be lost, and actually make those runs on the bank.

RightinNYC

As far as I understand, absolutely nothing should change for any customers of WaMu. All that's different is that JP Morgan now holds your account.

You're right in that media fears make this worse. People who don't understand how the FDIC works hear that their bank is in trouble and immediately run to withdraw all their money. This drastically undercuts the bank's financial position, making a collapse more likely.

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DeeJayH

all i have been hearing today is how credit is being cut
banks either dont have the cash, or they are too fearful to lend in this environment
just as Home Equity Lines of Credit were cut back from their approved amount to the balance carried, so i also believe alot of other debt instruments will go

I fear my real Estate career is in the ****, as is most Realtors for some time to come
what few buyers there were, can not get loans
Today I can honestly say I am concerned
especially given how pathetic our govt is acting, or not acting, on this

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BG AR

Your credit card with WaMu should not be affected, it will just get transferred and later rebranded to JPMorgan Chase. You can keep using it as you normally would any other credit card you might have.

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missypea

Does this mean that the new guy doesn't get his 7.5 million dollar signing bonus?


WaMu?s new CEO Alan Fishman gets $20 million pay package - Portland Business Journal:



I've always done my banking at my credit union. Can some of you financial gurus tell me what's happening with credit unions in all this mess?

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RightinNYC

Here's what I saw when I logged into my wamu account today:

Welcome WaMu

Sounds awesome to me.

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DeeJayH

successful CEOs are worth their pay IMHO
this guy had what, 16 days on the job before FDIC seized teh company and sold it to Chase?
since I can not see a reason to blame him, and he wasn't given the chance to turn things around, i am hard pressed to justify taking away his contractually obligated compensation package
If he ran it into the ground, i would have no problem with stripping him of it

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