WaMu Shares are Doomed

6/11 - "Will WaMu just finish the job and go to zero? Based on the stock's behavior over the past two weeks, this seems a distinct possibility.

Remember that, with these potential-run-on-the-bank scenarios, it's not what the balance sheet looked like last quarter that matters: It's what it looks like right now. (Bear Stearns went from comfortably solvent to bankrupt in a matter of days). What WaMu's balance sheet looks like now depends entirely on how many WaMu customers have demanded their money in recent weeks...and only WaMu knows that."

6/3 - "Washington Mutual (WAMU) closed the proverbial barn door after shareholders voted 51%plus to install a non employee as Chairman. WAMU announced on Monday it will replace Chief Executive Kerry Killinger as chairman of the board and take other steps to improve corporate governance."

"After billions of dollars in losses the shareholders finally got it. Keep the positions of chairman and CEO/president separate...While most investors look at the company as a financial disaster story, it really is a corporate governance disaster story. Perhaps even more so."

"This company is floundering around and until a permanent CEO is put in and builds up his executive team the future will be uncertain. Of course there can be a sale to stronger hands but the shareholders will only see a fraction of the franchise value."

6/2 - "WM’s decision to replace Kerry Killinger as the Chairman of the Board may have been long in coming. However, this step is likely just the first step toward closer oversight of the company’s management team and reflects an increasingly popular trend toward better Board independence, in our view...The prospect that the board could take steps to remove Killinger as CEO remains quite possible, in our opinion, as it appears investors’ voices are becoming more audible, as judged by the fate of other large under-performing financial company CEOs."

"WM reiterated its focus to return to profitability by reducing operating expenditures and growing/preserving the value of its retail banking franchise, while maintaining adequate capital and liquidity. This process is likely to require several more years, as we estimate that WM will not profitable until H2’09, as credit costs will likely weigh on its earnings power through 2012."

"Capital adequacy appears sufficient to provide it the flexibility to work through the next few years without significant risk to its financial strategy; though visibility to a successful exit remains uncertain, in our view. Still, the intermediate-term downside appears limited with long-term upside to low 20’s over the next few years. We expect shares to remain range bound until visibility improves or headline risks subside."