{"id":1836,"date":"2008-04-16T18:00:48","date_gmt":"2008-04-17T01:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/?p=1836"},"modified":"2008-04-16T15:23:54","modified_gmt":"2008-04-16T22:23:54","slug":"more-bad-news-for-wamu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2008\/04\/16\/more-bad-news-for-wamu\/","title":{"rendered":"More Bad News for WaMu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How about a few more WaMu updates.  The (bad) news seems to keep coming for the Seattle-based bank.<\/p>\n<p>First up, a look back at how WaMu got itself into this mess, courtesy of the Seattle Times: <a title=\"Where WaMu went wrong\" href=\"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/businesstechnology\/2004347122_wamu14.html\">Where WaMu went wrong<\/a>.  This article has <a title=\"Seattle Bubble Forums: Where WaMu went wrong\" href=\"http:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/forum\/viewtopic.php?f=1&amp;t=1246\">its own thread in the forums<\/a>, so be sure to check that out as well.<\/p>\n<p>Next, take a gander at today&#8217;s WaMu headline: <a title=\"Washington Mutual Posts Huge Loss; Director Quits\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2008\/04\/15\/AR2008041503083.html\">Washington Mutual Posts Huge Loss; Director Quits<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Washington Mutual, the nation&#8217;s largest savings and loan, said Tuesday that it lost $1.14 billion in the first quarter as the struggling economy and flagging real estate values pummeled the bank&#8217;s borrowers.<\/p>\n<p>The Seattle-based thrift lost $1.40 per share, compared with a profit of $784 million, or 86 cents per share, in the first quarter a year earlier. It was the bank&#8217;s second consecutive quarterly loss.<\/p>\n<p>Washington Mutual also said it needed to set aside $3.5 billion to cover bad loans in its $250 billion portfolio during the first quarter. The bank set aside less than half as much to cover bad loans in the year-ago period.<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\nChairman and chief executive Kerry Killinger promised shareholders that Washington Mutual will turn around within a year.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will get through this,&#8221; Killinger told more than 2,000 shareholders at Seattle&#8217;s symphony hall for the bank&#8217;s annual meeting Tuesday. &#8220;I want people to calm down and have a little faith.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Killinger outlined the company&#8217;s strategy for working through the mortgage crises: aggressive marketing of credit cards, continued growth in services to small businesses, and ongoing improvement in deposits at its retail branches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Hmm, aggressive marketing of credit cards?  Is that really the best way to work your way out of a mess like this?  I guess the thinking is that it&#8217;s harder for people to &#8220;walk away&#8221; from credit card debt than from a home loan.  Anyway, best of luck to you, WaMu.  I have a feeling you&#8217;re gonna need it.<\/p>\n<p>(<em>Drew DeSilver, <a title=\"Where WaMu went wrong\" href=\"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/businesstechnology\/2004347122_wamu14.html\">Seattle Times<\/a>, 04.14.2008<\/em>)<br \/>\n(<em>Donna Gordon Blankinship, <a title=\"Washington Mutual Posts Huge Loss; Director Quits\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2008\/04\/15\/AR2008041503083.html\">Associated Press<\/a>, 04.16.2008<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How about a few more WaMu updates. The (bad) news seems to keep coming for the Seattle-based bank. First up, a look back at how WaMu got itself into this mess, courtesy of the Seattle Times: Where WaMu went wrong. This article has its own thread in the forums, so be sure to check that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[198],"tags":[305,75,81,111],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-banks","tag-financing","tag-mortgages","tag-wamu"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>More Bad News for WaMu \u2022 Seattle Bubble<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2008\/04\/16\/more-bad-news-for-wamu\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"More Bad News for WaMu \u2022 Seattle Bubble\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"How about a few more WaMu updates. 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