JPMorgan buys WaMu/ Washington Mutual Fails

[unapatriciated]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/25/news/companies/JPM_WaMu/index.htm?postversion=2008092519
In the biggest bank failure in history, JPMorgan Chase will acquire massive branch network and troubled assets from Washington Mutual for $1.9 billion
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- JPMorgan Chase acquired the banking assets of Washington Mutual late Thursday after the troubled thrift was seized by federal regulators, marking the biggest bank failure in the nation's history and the latest stunning development in the ongoing credit crisis.

Under the deal, JPMorgan Chase will acquire all the banking operations of WaMu, including $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits.

In exchange, JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) will pay approximately $1.9 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Separately, JPMorgan announced plans to raise $8 billion in additional capital through the sale of stock as part of the deal.

The acquisition is JPMorgan Chase's second major purchase this year following the mid-March acquisition of investment bank Bear Stearns, a deal that was also engineered by the government.

"We think it is a great thing for our company," JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said in a conference call with investors late Thursday night.

As a result of the acquisition, the New York City-based JPMorgan Chase will now boast some 5,400 branches in 23 states.

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[whistle]

1. How much of the toxic paper shit did the U.S. Government get stuck with?

[flvegan]

2. Wow.

That's really all I have.

[On the Road]

3. After James Galbraith's Editorial

I was starting to think that fears of a string of bank runs were overblown.

Now, who the hell knows? There things are happening suddenly at all hours of the day and night.

Good news is it's a small one -- only $1.8 billion(!)