WaMu's Hopes for Capital Drying Up

Another concern at WaMu is the safety of its deposits.

"The early third quarter numbers suggested that retail deposits were flat with beginning of the year," according to Peters. Deposits were up $5 billion at June 30, suggesting that some customers are taking money out of the bank, she says.

"These are retail deposits," she says. "If they are really truly having deposit pressure, then the pressure to sell is probably going to be quite great."

Howard Shapiro, an analyst at Fox-Pitt, Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller, wrote in a note last week that if WaMu is to remain independent, its long-term challenge is rebuilding the bank in a model less reliant on mortgages.

"At the same time, any commercial bank buyer would already have the product set to drive through Washington Mutual's attractive deposit footprint," Shapiro writes. "So we have always regarded a sale as the best long-term outcome for the company."

WaMu has not publicly confirmed any of the rumors regarding a sale, so it remains "unlikely, but possible" that it is aiming to stay independent, Peters says. But the pressure to sell is overwhelming, she says.

"If you listen to the rumor mill, you would find that Washington Mutual has very few options now," Peters says.

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