Washington Mutual Inc.'s shares fell to their lowest point in over 12 years after Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. said the Seattle thrift company may report $11.2 billion of losses through next year as more borrowers default on home loans.
By midafternoon Friday the shares had dropped 13%, their biggest decrease since November, to $10.17 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The price was the lowest for the stock since August 1995. The stock closed at $10.71 a share Friday.
Over the past year Wamu's stock has fallen more than 74%, compared with a 33% decline in a gauge of financial stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500. Merrill also reiterated its "sell" rating for the stock a day after Standard & Poor's Corp. cut Wamu's long-term credit rating to BBB, from BBB-plus.
