All seemed lost for Washington Mutual just as few days ago. AIG had just cratered, as had Lehman Brothers. Everyone knew WaMu was on its last legs. Goldman Sachs staged an auction that attracted no legitimate contenders. But then came news of the massive bailout plan, which seemed to give new life to the fading, old thrift. Potential buyers are back, driven in part by the prospect that the government will take on the worst of WaMu's loans. The New York Post reports "expressions of interest" from the likes of Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, HSBC and Spain's Banco Santander. Moody's Investors Service downgraded WaMu's financial strength by one notch yesterday as well as its preferred stock rating. There has been no run on the bank, in part because most of the accounts are less than $100,000 and insured by the FDIC.

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