I just got an email from Washington Mutual

[Fuzz]

Start Saving for the Holidays Today!

With kids back in school and a nip in the air, we’re suddenly reminded that the holidays are just around the corner.

Even if you’re not ready to hit the stores, you can cut down on holiday stress by saving a little extra cash today. With Online Savings at an amazing 4.00% APY and great rates on Money Market accounts, we have plenty of ways to kick your holiday savings into gear.

Learn more about your options and these great rates for saving for the holidays.



Um, Yay?

[flvegan]

1. Only 90 more shopping days 'til Christmas!!!1!

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I get mail every single week from Countrywide

even tho they were bought by BOA.

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. And AIG still runs commercials on TV all the time

"Sure....give us your money. What? Collasping? Going out of business?? Nah, not us! You're kidding, right?? Seriously, give us your money. We'll take care of it. Really."

[samdogmom]

4. Yeah...and when you get a chance could you please dig us out????

We're a bit pre-occupied with being buried...but...We're trying to rally.

Sigh! What is our Country coming to?

[metapunditedgy]

5. Check FDIC

For God's sake, don't put any money with WaMu or anybody else in anything that isn't FDIC insured. Money market funds are not FDIC insured. They should make that very clear; lots of people are going to get hurt with this kind of crap.

Speaking from experience. My supposedly safe money-market fund is now being liquidated. Oh yeah, the fund was marketed as "This is the money you need to be most secure; this is the money you use to put food on your table."

[CountAllVotes]

6. what bank was this?

was it an online savings acct. sort of thing?

I see EmigrantDirect now has a "DollarDirect" account that appeared just today.

:wtf:

:kick:

[metapunditedgy]

7. fund in liquidation

It was "The Reserve Yield Plus Fund," basically an enhanced money market fund pushed by TD Ameritrade. Lots of people are up in arms about it. The Reserve ran several money funds that "broke the buck" the other week; this was one of the events that led to the sudden Paulson bailout push. There was a bank run on money market funds.

It's scary because lots of people put money in money market funds as they approach or enter retirement, assuming those are the safest places to park your savings. But it turns out that even these funds are exposed to some of the crap that's going on as the crooks unwind the mess they've gotten us into.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

8. Welcome to DU, meta.

Many new faces hitting the boards tonight. Great to have you here voicing your insights and opinions.

[CountAllVotes]

9. wow, sorry to hear about this

and yes, you are so right. These companies most certainly don't up front tell you that the money market accounts are not insured. I considered opening up one myself and I had to really press them for an answer as to whether or not it was insured.

I've been a bear with this market ever since 2000 and I never bothered to open that account luckily. Instead, I get a crappy 2% from my credit union but it is insured.

I'd heard about Ameritrade, but I never knew it got this bad!

Welcome to the DU btw!! :D

:dem:

[metapunditedgy]

10. thanks

Thanks to both of you for the welcome and the sympathy. Yeah, it's pretty frustrating.

I've been a bear since about 2005/2006. In the long run, I've been glad, and I've certainly slept well.

The irony is that I'll be helping to pay for the bailout of the Wall Street guys who took big risks (many of whom are long gone with their looted gains). But the fund I was in is an "enhanced" money market fund, so nobody will be bailing me out. Hopefully, it will turn out not too badly, but for now they've frozen everybody's money and won't say when or how much they're giving back. The SEC showed up at their office the other day and is apparently looking over their shoulders while they iron all this out.

Another detail... the run on the money fund started when Lehman failed. Lehman made up only about 3% of the holdings of their fund (actually less than that in mine), but The Reserve is said to have tipped off some of their big clients, who pulled their money out without a loss right away. After that, the rest of us are left paying for the losses. So that 3% gets magnified because only a small fraction of the original investors are around to absorb the hit.

I think there will be lawsuits, but for now, we're all just waiting to see what happens.

Sorry to ramble. Bottom line is, nothing is safe right now, unless it's FDIC insured or if you hold bonds directly from the gov't, I guess. (But I'm not a financial adviser.)

Crazy times.