Washington Mutual was one of the poster bank failures of 2008. Given this, you might be surprised to learn that WaMu is about to live again. Yes, it is coming out of bankruptcy. 

2008 was truly the year of discontent. As bad as things are now, it was in that year that all of us started to really entertain the proposition of a second major depression. Banks...big banks were failing or being taken over in rushed mergers in an effort to keep things afloat in the country and, in many ways, the world. We came mighty close to a complete collapse. 

Washington Mutual was one of the banks that ran into trouble. A big mortgage writer and credit card carrier, the bank was caught with its metaphorical pants down when the housing market started to roll over. I had my accounts with the bank and have to admit I started withdrawing money! Fortunately, the bank was not allowed to fail outright. Instead, the bank assets were sold off to Chase and the bank shell and debts went into bankruptcy.

Most people, including yours truly, thought that was the last we would see of WaMu. After all, the bank faced over $8 billion in debts and had lost most of its underlying business. Well, it turns out we were wrong. The bank obtained moneys in the sell off of its business, residuals on previous business and huge tax breaks. These were then combined to entice creditors to come to the table and negotiate. 

Believe it or not, but it now appears Washington Mutual could come out of bankruptcy before the end of the year. Yes, you read that right. Most of the important hurdles have been overcome. The only remaining issue is a creditor vote that is due on November 15th. If the current exit plan is approved, then the bank could be out of bankruptcy soon thereafter. 

Talk about a scary Halloween story!