Wall street panicked as rescue bill failed to please congress. Ironically Dow tumbled by 777 points – a number representing jackpot. It was more of the opposite for the US investors.

Great timing .. I was wondering if this was intended to be a joke – the following email was sent a day after WaMu disappeared into thin air. Holiday all the way!

On a serious note, the episode was a shock for the stock holders. Everyone knew that WaMu was in trouble. But was it bad enough to force a closure? That too on a Thursday. The entire episode seemed suspicious. The theory is that FDIC closed WaMu to avoid paying insurance to WaMu banking customers (in case WaMu went bankrupt), and then sold the assets to chase for $1.9B. If not for FDIC intervention, Chase could not have acquired one of the biggest banks in US for peanuts. A smart play by Chase indeed. As for the stock holders it was a daylight robbery by FDIC. Unlike the banking customers whose funds are insured and safe after the transaction, the stock holders did not get a penny.