WaMu to lay off 3,000: Close all remaining standalone home loan cntrs

[superconnected]

Source: Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) - Washington Mutual Inc., hit hard by rising delinquencies and defaults on mortgages, said Tuesday it will receive $7 billion in new capital from an investment group led by private equity firm TPG but will post a wider-than-expected loss for the first quarter.

The Seattle-based thrift said it will lose $1.1 billion during the first quarter and take a provision for loan losses of $3.5 billion - $1.5 billion more than previously expected. Wall Street had forecast a loss of $344.3 million, according to Thomson Financial survey of analysts.

Separately, the country's largest savings and loan said it will get out of the wholesale lending business, close all remaining standalone home loan centers and lay off 3,000 workers.

Washington Mutual will sell equity securities to an investment fund managed by TPG Capital and to other investors in order to raise the funds. Washington Mutual did not disclose the names of other investors, though the bank said they include top institutional shareholders

Read more: http://www.komotv.com/news/17387079.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Did they announce this after the bell? nt

[superconnected]

2. 10:12am Pacific Time - 1:12pm Eastern

[kestrel91316]

3. Well, the WaMu home loan place between my home and work is badly placed

and the traffic in and out clogs up the street. No great loss. They should be doing home and other loans out of their MANY MANY branches.

[whistle]

4. Back when Bush Sr was POTUS in 1991 we bought a new home and financed our

...through Washington Mutual here in Central Florida. My wife and I were both working pulling almost six figure salaries and had perfect credit. The interest rates were very high but we took out a 25 year fixed rate loan. Within nine months WaMu had sold our loan to an out-of-state Central Bank and I had no idea why they did that.

When Bill Clinton got into office he worked on lowering interest rates and encouraged homeowners to refinance at the lower rates. I got a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 7.0% and nearly cut my monthly payment in half. I would have had that mortgage paid off had a Democratic president continued based on my accelerated principle payments, but BushCo changed all that.

In 2001 that Florida Bank loan re-mortgage again went out-of-state this time to Citi-Mortgage and it has been like talking to wallpaper ever since. I was continuously hounded by telephone and mail to take out one of the low interest ARMs on condition of borrowing on the 70% equity in my home. I resisted and of course that stopped a year ago. It made my head swarm. I am now a widower and as I get close to retirement I have no idea what is going to happen. I just keep making my monthly payments on my single salary and hope for the best. I suppose I'm better off than most folks and I do count my blessings every day.

[Binka]

6. Sorry You Lost Your Wife

You still have a roof over your head and you didn't go under to the sharks. Keep your chin up whistle!

[Parche]

5. What Do You Expect With A Name Like 'WAMU'

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

Everytime I went there, the people were completely rude....
:hi:

[Massachusetts]

7. Don't worry Uncle Ben (Bernanke) has all under control.

I don't think so.

[aquart]

8. How could ANYONE think those hundreds of mini-banks were viable?

Mini-banks encroaching on prime corner retail space all over Manhattan...if a retail store could not make the rent there, how in hell did anyone believe all those banks could? The second I saw them proliferating, I started yelling head for the hills.

Nobody I knew thought it was indicative of anything. But I got ill every time I saw one. New ones are still opening. It's insane.