JPMorgan Builds Strength With WaMu Deal in Tense Age By ERIC DASH Published: September 26, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/business/27wamu.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin ⦠As the nationâs largest savings and loan teetered on Thursday morning, a senior federal regulator called a familiar number: James Dimonâs. It was the same number that the Federal Reserve had called six months earlier, when Bear Stearns, one of the oldest names of Wall Street, lurched toward a collapse that many feared would send losses cascading from one financial institution to the next. This time, the trouble was at Washington Mutual, a giant savings and loan that had been hobbled by bad mortgages. On the line from his Park Avenue headquarters, Mr. Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, listened as the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation told him the F.D.I.C. was about to seize WaMu â and then sell it to JPMorgan. âWeâre going to get it!â Mr. Dimon barked to one of his lieutenants. âGet ready!â As one institution after another is laid low by the present crisis, Mr. Dimon stands at the head of a small band of bankers who are coming out on top in the new financial landscape. With two bold deals â first Bear and now WaMu â Mr. Dimon has muscled in further on Wall Streetâs traditional turf and transformed JPMorgan into the countryâs largest commercial bank. With WaMu, JPMorgan will have $905 billion in deposits and 5,400 branches nationwide, rivaling Bank of America in size and reach. ⦠------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems to me that US economic system has one big step forward to monopoly during the current economic/financial chaos with the active helps of the Fed. Any thoughts or comments?
Pretty much so, the Fed is a government entity with PRIVATE components: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System#Balance_between_private_banks_and_respon Anyway, currently we are seeing the big fish swallowing smaller fish big time and one more giant step toward monopoly in this system.