WaMu Shares Plunge 35 Percent

Seattle Times (07/15/08)
Washington Mutual in Seattle saw its shares fall 35 percent on July 14 to their lowest level in more than 17 years as investors grew more concerned about lenders holding large numbers of bad home loans. Lenders in the Seattle area say borrowers will still be able to obtain mortgages, even though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are having problems. An increase in financial credit from the federal government "will help stabilize Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac], which is pretty essential for the whole housing industry," says Robert Story Jr., vice chairman of the national Mortgage Bankers Association and president of Seattle Financial Group.