Eight days ago I informed HTWW readers that I would refrain from engaging in my own private bank panic, and decided not to close out my accounts at Washington Mutual. I was betting that the federal government would strongly encourage another bank, probably J.P. Morgan Chase, to purchase WaMu.
On Thursday night, the Wall Street Journal reported that JP Morgan Chase was set to announce that it was buying the "bulk of WaMu's operations."
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. was expected to announce as early as Thursday night a deal to acquire the bulk of Washington Mutual Inc.'s operations in a deal that would mark the end of independence for what once was the largest U.S. thrift.
Federal regulators have been heavily involved in orchestrating the transaction, which comes as WaMu was besieged by a mountain of bad mortgage loans.
So there you go -- My bank is now no longer failing and I no longer am worried that its credit rating is junk.
Maybe later this week, if this insane intersection of political and economic chaos that is currently ruling my life settles down for a bit, I can catch my breath for awhile and try to figure out what it means that I am now a customer of Bank of America (through their purchase of Countrywide) and J. P. Morgan Chase, two of the most powerful financial institutions on the planet, without having lifted a finger of my own to make these changes.
I have been consolidated.
Shares