From a tip, and up for discussion:

"Wamu to exit wholesale JAN 1. Was told by another LO that the word was leaked from a Rep and he was fired the next day. They keep asking for new rep and WAMU keeps blowing them off."

We know that Chase is interested in a western footprint, and WaMu (the largest U.S. savings and loan) is trading at almost rock bottom. If CW announces Jan. 1 they are OUT of wholesale, coupled with the WaMu $783 million downgrades issued tonight by Fitch, doesn't it look more and more like WaMu is done?

And, as quoted by Bloombu(e)rg, "Washington Mutual also plans to close WaMu Capital Corp., its broker-dealer business, as well as its mortgage banker warehouse lending unit." Regardless, we understand that WaMu has to spread $10 billion in mortgage-related write-offs in 2008, killing profits in every quarter.

http://implode-explode.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=25576#25576

Hard to say. I just rode from N CA to Phoenix following the scenic route through the Inland Empire and it looked to me that WaMu has a lot of exposure in what may be the worst area in the country as far as RE next to FL.

On the other side the big players that clean house early may have the best chance of survival.

What's their exposure to CC defaults?
What's their exposure to CRE ?
What's their exposure to HELOC's?

That's the kind of thing that will also leave big marks.

They all are making a big mistake by not withdrawing credit lines from the riskiest customers and areas. With CRE they are stuck contractually.