The Failure of Washington Mutual Essay

Unfortunately, the improvements in earnings and loan losses have not extended to Banks’ operating revenues. Banks’ operating revenues are not growing due to “lower servicing income (down $8 billion), reduced gains on loan sales (down $4.8 billion), and lower income from service charges on deposit accounts, which fell by $2.1 billion (5.9 percent).” (FDIC Quarterly, p.2)

John Pierpont Morgan is considered one of the founding fathers of the modern United States economy. He was an industrial genius that is accredited with the founding of many companies including General Electric and AT&T. However, Pierpont is looked upon as a saint and demon the same. He received a honorary degree from Harvard university that read: "Public citizen, patron of literature and art, prince among merchants, who by his skill, wisdom and courage, has twice in times of stress repelled a national danger of financial panic." But Robert LaFollette, the Wisconsin progressive, saw him as "a beefy, red-faced thick-necked financial bully, drunk with wealth and power." Despite conflicting opinion on his persona, his

JPMorgan Chase is one of the oldest financial services company dating back over 200 years. It has $2 trillion in assets and operations in more than 60 countries. JPMC’s corporate strategy is it provides services and products in major capital markets. JPMorgan Chase, well known nationally and globally, is leading in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity.

In 1938, and in the teeth of the longest and fiercest depression that the United States had ever known, capital spending hit an all time high. That’s right! In 1938 the men who owned America began to pour millions of Dollars into new plant and equipment as if there was no tomorrow. We don’t think much about it today, because it has been a long time since the United States has experienced a real bone jolting economic slowdown. The fact is, however, that the very best time for the industrialist to invest in new technologies is in the middle of a depression. This is because it is at such times that labor, raw materials, and new equipment can be purchased at rock bottom prices. Henry Ford may have jumped the gun a bit. He shut down his River

Banks have been subjected to a great deal of criticism in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, given that the crisis originated in the subprime mortgage sector and was directly caused by the willingness of banks to extend credit to borrowers with questionable histories. However, FHB has been flourishing and has not had its reputation tainted: "First Hawaiian Bank, which saw market share grow to 35.31 percent this year from 34 percent in 2011, also reported deposits of $11.7 billion, nearly $1 billion more than the 2011 deposits of $10.8 billion" (Magin 2012).

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Is a conglomerate company with a very specific purpose. According to their website, the mission and values of J.P. Morgan Chase is "To be the most profitable, respected and influential investment bank in the world for the long term." To adequately quantify a company's mission or its vision, the firm must first determine, at the strategic level, what its core principles are. J.P. Morgan Chase is a firm with very specific business principles that they believe are at the very core of achieving their mission. Many of these basic principles include: Aspire to be the best, Execute superbly, Build a great team and a winning culture. (J.P. Morgan business goals).

As a staff analyst, I think that there are many alternatives present which can save the Bank from a huge loss. Actually in this dispute I feel that Bank is right because they made it clear in the purchase order that the machines needs to be shipped through Yellow Freight and also paid the invoice before time as per their custom. But still the carrier was changed by Data Max without asking or informing the bank.

The Bank of the United States is a symbol of the long held American fear of centralization and government control. The bank was an attempt to bring some stability and control and was successful at doing this. However, both times the bank was chartered, forces within the economy ultimately destroyed it. The fear of centralization and control was ultimately detrimental to the U.S. economy.

The Harvard Management Company (HMC) was established in 1974 with the goals providing world-class investment management focused solely on generating strong results to support the educational and research objectives of Harvard University. The company’s goals are to correctly measure Harvard University’s financial requirements and to provide investment opportunities that will accurately meet or exceed them with the lowest amount of risk assumed by the institution.

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. With $639 billion in assets and $619 billion in debt, Lehman 's bankruptcy filing was the largest in history, as its assets far surpassed those of previous bankrupt giants such as WorldCom and Enron. Lehman was the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank at the time of its collapse, with 25,000 employees worldwide. The consequences for the world economy were extreme. Lehman’s ' fall contributed to a loss of confidence in other banks, a worldwide financial crisis and a deep recession in many countries. Lehman 's collapse roiled global financial markets for weeks, given the size of the company and its status as a major player in the U.S. and internationally. Many questioned the U.S. government 's decision to let Lehman fail, as compared to its tacit support for Bear Stearns, which was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) in March 2008. Lehman 's bankruptcy led to more than $46 billion of its market value being wiped out. Its collapse also served as the catalyst for the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America in an emergency deal that was also announced on September 15.

Countrywide’s tactics often led borrowers to expensive and sometimes unfavorable loans that resulted in richer commissions for Countrywide’s sales forces, fees to company affiliates providing services on the loans, and a roaring stock price that made Countrywide executives among the highest paid in America. Countrywide’s entire operation, from its computer system to its incentive pay structure and financing arrangements, was intended to wring maximum profits out of the mortgage lending boom no matter what it cost borrowers (Morgenson, 2007).

On September 10, 2008, Lehman Brothers announced the lowest decline as the shares dropped to 45%. It left the market value at $5.4 billion after the Korea Development Bank rejected to make an investment deal that could rescue Lehman. The company would seek capital from other investors in order to recover their financial situation. These efforts faltered and the situation grew more severe, even after the US government had already saved the Bear Stearns and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Though it is less likely that the US government will keep Lehman's bailout, there should be a resolution from the Federal Reserve System to bolster Lehman’s finance so as to prevent the US economic declination.

In the second half of 2007, the banking industry and financial market showed signs of considerable stress by raising the default rate of mortgage and the decline in the value of residential mortgage-backed securities. This had led to a re-pricing of many debt instruments. By the end of 2007, Citigroup declared that the fair value of its U.S. sub-prime related direct exposure could decline by 20%. This affected Citigroup’s financial results and would incur further losses in the future.

Mutual funds are an easy, convenient way to invest, without having to worry about choosing individual stocks. A mutual fund can be defined as a single portfolio of stocks, bonds, and/or cash managed by an investment company on behalf of many investors. The investment company manages the fund, and sells shares in the fund to individual investors. When one invests in a mutual fund, they become a part-owner of a large investment portfolio, along with all the other shareholders of the fund. The fund manager invests the contributions when shares are purchased, along with money from the other shareholders. Every day, the fund manager counts up the value of all the fund's holdings, figures out how many shares have been purchased by

If the firm remains a partnership could the firm continue to compete on an equal footing with its competitors, would they be able to retain key employees? How would tangible as well as intangible assets be valued in its stock price as a public firm?