Fears Of Further Financial Casualties Abound

Fears that further financial casualties were inevitable abounded on Wall Street this morning as shares in Morgan Stanley appeared to be in freefall and the US Government reportedly asked big banks to put together a rescue buyout of Washington Mutual.
Shares in US investment bank Morgan Stanley were down by 40.63 per cent this morning at $17.04 while its larger rival Goldman Sachs fell by 21.9 per cent, even after both reported better-than-expected earnings yesterday. The cost of protecting Morgan Stanley and Goldman’s debt also spiked.
The US Government has asked big banks, including HSBC, to put together a rescue buyout of Washington Mutual, the American lender, according to a report.
The banks involved include Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and HSBC but the report in the New York Post said that no deal talks were being held between the banks and WaMu.

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