Morgan Stanley and Wachovia possible merger

Morgan Stanley one of the two major Wall Street banks left standing after the crisis in the US financial Industry that send shockwaves around the global markets is considering a merger with Wachovia Corporation, according to people close to the source they said it’s Wachovia or they may consider another bank.

If Morgan Stanley do merger with another bank it would restore it back to its structure during the depression, when the firm split from the Morgan banking empire. If a deal was to be done with Wachovia, it would then leave one bank to be the envy of Wall Street, Goldman Sachs would be the only American investment bank left.

On Wednesday as Morgan Stanley’s shares continued to tumble, Wachovia expressed interest via a telephone call with John J. Mack Stanley’s chief executive. The talks are said to be preliminary so it’s not certain that deal will happen.

Morgan Stanley shares fell 24.22 percent or $6.95 to $21.75 whilst Shares in Wachovia dropped 20.76 percent, or $2.39, to $9.12. As Morgan Stanley deeply consider all its options, the troubled savings and loans Washington Mutual (WaMu) put itself up for auction according to people close to the source, WaMu who was hit badly from losses on mortgages it had made, stumbled almost a further 10 percent on Wednesday to $2.09, the shares in WaMu have plummeted 94 percent over the last year.

Read the full article in the nytimes