Lehman’s gone, WaMu’s toast, who’s next?

Judging from today’s open on Wall Street, it looks like that’s the question people are asking. Wachovia and NCC are the two companies under the heaviest selling pressure, both down about 20% already at 9:45.

Remember that National City is under OCC scrutiny. That is the sort of problem that led to massive deposit withdrawals at WaMu. So, it is obvious that they are seen as the next weakest link:

The confidential agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was entered into over the past month or so. It illustrates the growing regulatory pressure some financial institutions are under as they struggle to deal with fallout from the credit-market turmoil.
–WSJ, 6 Jun 2008

Congress needs to act now. This thing is spiraling out of control.