US crisis:Washington Mutual files for bankruptcy; Wachovia may be next and more to come.....

Washington Mutual files for bankruptcy

US financial crisis deepened further with 119-year old banking institution Washington Mutual deciding to file for bankruptcy protection after selling its banking operations to JPMorgan Chase. Washington Mutual, which has an asset of over USD 300 billion, will be the second major financial entity after Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy protection. The fall of Washington Mutual, popularly known as WaMu, is being viewed as the biggest banking failure in the American history. "Washington Mutual Inc announced on Saturday that it has, together with its wholly-owned subsidiary WMI Investment Corp, commenced voluntary cases under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code," a statement released by Business Wire said. WaMu, according to reports, was expected to lose around USD 19 billion on bad mortgages. Credit agency Standard and Poor's has already slashed its rating to eight level below investment grade. Earlier the US administration has seized WaMu and sold its banking operation to JPMorgan Chase for USD 1.9 billion. The American financial turmoil triggered by subprime mortgage crisis has taken a heavy toll on the global financial system, even as the US government is trying to work out a USD 700 billion bailout package. Apart from forcing Lehman Brothers, WaMu and IndyMac Bancorp into bankruptcy, the crisis has driven US's sixth largest bank, Wachovia, which has an asset base of over USD 800 billion, to look for a buyer. The turmoil had also forced Merrill Lynch to sell its shares to Bank of America, while the crisis-ridden AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were bailed out by the US government.
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More corporate bankruptcies to come to the fore

US corporate bankruptcies have soared this year and more are on the way, highlighting a historic and pivotal year for those in the restructuring industry. Virtually no segment of the US economy has been safe from a rolling tide of job losses, stock market declines and home foreclosures that have knocked a range of industries to their knees. “We are certainly seeing more companies, particularly among insurance and financial institutions, going through unprecedented times fighting for survival,” said Randall Eisenberg, senior managing director for restructuring advisor FTI Consulting. Companies in more industries than ever are finding themselves in distress, ranging from retailers, home builders and restaurants, to financial firms, transportation providers and energy companies. But at the same time, the turmoil has created unprecedented opportunities for distressed or vulture investors , and those attorneys, consultants and other experts who help companies sort out their problems. “There are all of these (private equity investors) getting into the business, by buying and rolling up these industries that are in trouble,” said Sheila Smith, head of reorganization at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. Government bailouts and increasingly large bankruptcies are starting to rewrite the rules for overseeing corporate collapses. Nothing serves to highlight the shift more than the rapid and unexpected downfall of some of the country's most powerful firms, including Lehman Brothers Holdings $637 billion bankruptcy filing this week. “The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy is taking the restructuring industry into uncharted waters,” said David Pauker, a managing director with restructuring advisor Goldin Associates. “Much of the learning and experience that derives from earlier failures of large financial firms—Drexel (Burnham Lambert), Refco, Enron—will be revisited and revised.” The number of US businesses filing for bankruptcy has soared 42% from a year ago, according to the Administrative Office for US Courts. Already this year, more public companies have filed for Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy than during all of 2007, according to BankruptcyData.com. The credit crisis has also complicated things for struggling companies, by hurting their ability to refinance their debts or even gain financing to exit bankruptcy protection. Auto parts maker Delphi Corp, for example, has been struggling to get financing to exit bankruptcy protection for most of the year. And as market fright intensifies , it becomes more likely other firms will fail or be forced to sell themselves. “Equity markets and other segments of the credit markets continue to crater, raising fears of systemic risk,” Diane Vazza , head of ratings agency Standard & Poor’s global fixed income group, wrote in a note to clients. Vazza will be among the specialists to address Reuters reporters and editors at its Restructuring Summit. While a global credit crunch has slammed financial firms, higher energy prices have sent regional airlines such as Denver-based Frontier Airlines Holdings into bankruptcy court.
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Source:ET

10 things that money can not buy.

10 things that money can't buy.

On August 7 we published a feature 10 things that money can't buy. In response Get Ahead reader Gagan Kumar, a corporate training consultant, sent his list of 10 things that money cannot buy. Read on.
Sages down the ages said we must remain happy and contended with what we have. But today's generation and just about everyone in this competitive world are running after one sole thing: money and creation of wealth.
But there are different ways in which different human beings think. For some wealth creation is abundance of money while for some others it could be just living joyfully.
Money or the creation of wealth can give you pleasures of life and help you realise your fantasies. But the big question is: can it provide you joy, peace, prosperity and lead you to megaliving as rightly put forth by famous leadership guru Robin Sharma?
To say that money and subsequent creation of wealth can buy everything is a misnomer. The true fact is money cannot buy everything. Here is a list of what money cannot buy but things that can be cherished over a period of your life perhaps.

1. Vision and mission of your life
The old age by W W Ziege goes like this: 'Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude and nothing on earth can help the man with wrong mental attitude'.
Without vision and mission you are like a jet without a flight plan or maybe a brain surgeon operating with a blindfold on. Lasting self mastery and excellence will only come about when you set precise goals and have a clear vision and mission plan in place.
Clear goals are foundation of success and if you do not set clear cut goals then it would be like a ship moving through deep seas without a course. And alas these are not a commodity which can be bought!

2. Networking and building nurtured relationshipsSeptember 25, 2008
You are the centre of your own universe. Where your universe intersects or overlaps someone else's, your lines cross that person's universe. If you could draw a map of the entire universe, you'd have a mesh or a web. Staying in touch and focusing on action is not only important for our evolution but is also a vital need to meet the larger challenges facing us today.
When we join hands with other people and share our dreams, aspirations, concerns and dreams not only do we find inner strength in this kinship but also practical help and ideas to carry out joint initiatives effectively. Remember, together each achieves more.
This is something that has to be cultivated and is not something that can be bought overhand.

3. ValuesSeptember 25, 2008
The highest good in human beings is their own self. This is the love, awareness and bliss of our inner most divine being. Everything worthwhile in life is an expression of this divinity. All that we value is the hidden quest for this divine source: Jack Welch in his book Winning.
Everything we do is based consciously or unconsciously on our values, attitudes and or conceptions of what is good and desirable. They are our inherent notions of what ought to be. Thus values are set of behaviours: specific, nitty-gritty and so descriptive they leave little to imagination.
People must be able to use them as marching orders because they are the how of the mission, the means to the end: Winning. And if u guessed it right folks values is not something which you can buy but what is nurtured by your traditional roots.

More @http://specials.rediff.com/getahead/2008/sep/25slde3.htm

Source:Rediff.com

Sensex plunges by 940 pts on global financial crisis (Week basis)

Sensex plunges by 940 pts on global financial crisis

The delay in passage of a US bailout package for ailing financial markets and shut down of America's second largest bank caused a global meltdown with Indian bourses crumbling by a huge 940 points, biggest point-wise fall in the last 25-week, in the week under review. Even as the US administration continued its debate on a $ US 700-bn rescue package for the shattered financial system, the on-going credit crisis claimed yet another victim leading to across the board sell-off in the stock markets.

The US regulators on Thursday seized the 119-year-old Washington Mutual Inc, a leading savings and loan bank in the US, and sold its banking operations to JP Morgan Chase for 1.9 bn dollars. In the week to September 27, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer tumbled by 940.14 points or 6.70 per cent to end the week at 13,102.18 against its last weekend's close. Similarly, the broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange nosedived by 260 points or 6.12 per cent to close the week at 3,985.25 from its last weekend's close. Analysts said political squabbling blocked the potential deal on a bailout proposal, on which investors globally have pinned their hopes for revival in the markets. Domestic markets witnessed a relief rally on Wednesday as the bellwether Sensex recovered by about 122 points on some short-covering of positions ahead of the expiry of derivatives series on Thursday.

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Source:ET,BS