Washington Mutual - 13th U.S. Bank to Fail this Year

Washington Mutual (WaMu) became the largest casualty and is the 13th U.S. bank to fail this year and the ninth to fail since July. Its customers withdrew a massive US$16.7 billion in cash in the past nine days and this has resulted the largest bank failure in U.S. history. At this point in time, WaMu shares is trading at 15 cents and has dropped more than 93% just today. Last year, its share price was over US$30.

JP Morgan has confirmed to have acquired WaMu's assets. JPMorgan became the biggest U.S. bank by deposits with the deal, acquiring WaMu's branch network for $1.9 billion.

All eyes are now on Wachovia.

Washington Mutual Homepage (Already having a link to JP Morgan)
https://www.wamu.com/personal/default.asp

Welcome Statement by JP Morgan
http://www.chase.com/welcomewamu/

Bank Acquisition Announcement by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/wamu.html