From Bloomberg:

Washington Mutual Inc. had its credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s for the second time in nine days, increasing pressure on the savings and loan to find a buyer. The stock fell 29 percent.

S&P reduced WaMu today to CCC from BB-, eight levels below investment grade, saying a sale may not include the entire lender and could leave the holding company with too much debt. WaMu’s $143 billion of deposits at 2,300 branches have lured five potential bidders. The company also estimates it faces $19 billion of mortgage-related losses during the next 2-½ years.

“The longer this takes, the more trouble this company seems to be getting in,” said Chris Armbruster, an analyst at Al Frank Asset Management in Laguna Beach, California, whose $650 million under management includes WaMu shares. “It’s very likely the financial condition of this company is deteriorating while they wait.”

Time is definitely beginning to look short for Washington Mutual.

Psicosis, originally uploaded by david_fisher.