Washington Mutual pushed the envelope as hard as they could on their financial products and services.If WaMu's brass had run their bank the way that the stuffy old bankers in their "bankers' pen" used to, WaMu might not be as large a bank as they are now, but WaMu also would not be flirting with insolvency. WaMu was heavily into a type of mortgages called "option ARMs" and those mortgages are defaulting in huge numbers.
One might even argue that the reason why WaMu isn't splashed across the front pages today is because Lehman Brothers has failed, Merrill Lynch is being sold at a near fire sale price, and AIG Insurance is teetering on the edge of collapse. The market is hammering WaMu's stock nonetheless, there just isn't the publicity about it right now.
The stuffy old guys were right. They should throw the smart-ass punk into the lion's pen.
I work for a financial services company, and we've got a stuffed shirt image. We're doing just fine, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteGDad, my point exactly.
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