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RealMoney.com: Jim Cramer Blog
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Note to WaMu: Go Sell Yourself

By Jim Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist

3/5/2008 5:49 PM EST
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Washington Mutual (WM - commentary - Cramer's Take). That's my focus. That's the one that is rapidly becoming the biggest villain, supplanting Countrywide (CFC - commentary - Cramer's Take) as it gets subsumed by Bank of America (BAC - commentary - Cramer's Take).

I don't know about you, but the deal that its CEO Kerry Killinger got today will no doubt be remembered as the one that enshrined one of the worst executives who still has his job.

Chuck Prince and Stan O'Neal got axed. This guy got a huge package.

I wish the bank examiners would come into this place and turn it upside down. I wish they would be realistic about the exotic loans, and where they should be marked.

I was reading a great piece today on Seeking Alpha about how to mark Downey Savings, another total travesty. I believe that Washington Mutual could be worse, given the ridiculous number of low/no doc loans it wrote.

Now, I know that WaMu raised capital and slashed the dividend. But if anyone thinks that cash is enough, he probably thinks that Ambac (ABK - commentary - Cramer's Take) got enough money today.

My advice to Washington Mutual: Put yourself up for sale while your deposit base is still with you.

Your stock is not going down because you are doing well.

I am mindful that Bank of America is falling pretty hard today. I am no fan, but BAC did manage to raise a ton of fresh capital. WM's percentage of bad loans is much higher than Bank of America's.

This is the one to keep on your screen. This is the one I would be worried about if I were the Fed, not that it would know the difference.

In one way, WM got real lucky: BAC was dumb enough to buy CFC before it went broke.

WM won't have that luxury.

There's no masking it and no way to take this one off the table. Now that ABK and MBIA (MBI - commentary - Cramer's Take) are temporarily off the griddle, stay focused on WaMu. It is not hard to do, given the outrageous pay package we just got for Killinger, who should have been fired today.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.






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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" weeknights on CNBC. To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here. Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here.

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