WaMu cut to junk
Bank Failures, Meltdown, Mortgage Lenders, Spillover | (0)
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 ...
