Filed under: Rumors, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Comerica Inc (CMA), Wachovia Corp (WB), Washington Mutual (WM), Wells Fargo (WFC)

It has been rumored for the past couple of months or so that J. P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) has been pondering the acquisition of downtrodden Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) and may have had some preliminary discussions. I have been thinking that Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) might have more than a passing interest too.

I have had business dealings with all three financial companies, including stock ownership, loans, and multiple bank accounts. We have owned JPM stock in the past, but do not currently. We sold most of our WaMu stock last year but still own it in one account. We have never owned Wells, but of the three we would like to get into this one the most, at the right price, of course. I have written extensively about all three companies, so it is with more than a passing interest that I was thinking about M&A issues.

Chase and Wells both could make use of WaMu and gain financially but in different ways. Chase has a much bigger need to establish a presence on the West Coast. It has been expanding over time but its branch system is still weak compared to Wells and the other major banks. With its extensive branch system on the West Coast, WaMu would solve that problem fast.

Continue reading Will Chase (JPM) or Wells Fargo (WFC) buy WaMu (WM)?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 2:42 am and is filed under Stocks Money News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.