WaMu CD Rates Suggest Liquidity Fears

Editor's note: Our "On the Brink" series will provide daily insight into the financial firms facing capital shortfalls and the growing pressure from short sellers in the market.

Washington Mutual (WM Quote) is expressing confidence in its liquidity, but it is clear looking at its efforts to attract new deposits that the struggling thrift's situation is increasingly dire.

Washington Mutual Bank's long-term deposit and issuer ratings were downgraded Thursday by Moody's Investors Service, after the bank's preannouncement of third-quarter results showed it had "limited financial flexibility."

The ratings downgrade followed Washington Mutual's update on its third quarter financial performance, when the holding company stated that it expected to remain well-capitalized under regulatory guidelines at the end of the third quarter. ...