Word of the Day

Commodity

Even if you don't think you do, you already know plenty about commodities. Want us to prove it? No problem.

What makes oil produced in Saudi Arabia different from oil exported from Nigeria? It's the same thing that makes the corn you ate at last summer¿s barbecue different from the corn used to produce ethanol. Stumped? Well, don't feel bad, it's a trick question. The answer? Absolutely nothing. Corn is corn no matter where it comes from -- just as wheat is wheat and natural gas is -- right! -- natural gas. (Though the quality may differ, the make-up is uniform.)

So, in less elaborate terms, corn and oil (and all other commodities) are homogenous goods that can be processed, resold and more often than not, used as an input to the production of other goods or services. These goods are traded on a commodity exchange, thus setting the price-per-barrel (or other metric unit) used to value them.

Now pay attention, here's a question that indeed does have an answer: What is the difference between a commodity and a stock? While a stock can tank and become worthless, a commodity cannot have its value be wiped to zero. One other difference: Most commodities are traded in futures, meaning traders buy and sell where they think the price of a product will be at a certain point in the future. Stocks trade based on the value of the underlying company at that point in time.

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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

WaMu Announces Conversion of Series S and Series T Preferred Stock

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Comtex

SEATTLE, Jul 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced the conversion of its Series S and Series T Contingent Convertible Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock into common stock following the overwhelming approval by shareholders of two proposals put forth by the company at a special shareholders' meeting related to the Company's recent $7.2 billion equity investment transaction.

As a result of the shareholder approvals and the satisfaction of certain other conditions, all outstanding shares of the Company's Series S and Series T Preferred Stock automatically converted into a total of approximately 647 million shares of the Company's common stock at the end of business on June 30, 2008. Among these shares, approximately 228 million may not be transferred, prior to October 14, 2009, and approximately 89 million shares may not be transferred, prior to January 14, 2009, in each instance subject to certain exceptions. For further details concerning these transfer restrictions, as well as the price reset protections related to these shares, see the sections titled "Description of the Investment Agreement" and "Description of the Securities Purchase Agreements" in the company's Definitive Proxy Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 22, 2008.

Following the issuance of approximately 176 million shares of common in April of 2008 and the conversion of the Series S and Series T Preferred Stock on June 30, 2008, there were approximately 1.7 billion shares of common stock outstanding.

About WaMu

WaMu, through its subsidiaries, is one of the nation's leading consumer and small business banks. At March 31, 2008, WaMu and its subsidiaries had assets of $319.67 billion. The company has a history dating back to 1889 and its subsidiary banks currently operate approximately 2,500 consumer and small business banking stores throughout the nation. WaMu's financial reports and news releases are available at www.wamu.com/ir.

SOURCE: Washington Mutual, Inc.

WaMu Media Contact Derek Aney, 206-500-6094 or 212-326-6075 derek.aney@wamu.net or WaMu Investor Relations Contact
   Alan Magleby, 206-500-4148 or 212-702-6955 alan.magleby@wamu.net

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