Today’s confessions: B of A, WAMU, UBS

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You be the pundit today. You can choose to view these as random developments, or signs that The Entire Mess is Getting Worse:

--Swiss mess: UBS revealed a $10-billion writedown and an emergency injection of funds from Singapore and the Middle East, making it the biggest victim of the U.S. sub-prime crisis to date among major European banks.

--Breaking the buck: CNBC reports that Bank of America is winding down a $12-billion money-market-type fund that’s tailored toward institutional investors. The Fund last week saw its net asset value fall below the $1 per share that all such funds try to keep. This is known as ‘breaking the buck,’ and it is not a good thing.

--WAMU cuts: After the closing bell on Wall Street, Washington Mutual said it would slash its dividend and cut more than 3,000 jobs and announced a $2.5 billion capital infusion. Read the press release here. Highlights: WAMU will ‘discontinue all remaining lending through its sub-prime mortgage channel, close approximately 190 of 336 home loan centers and sales offices, and eliminate approximately 2,600 home loans positions, or about 22% of its home loans staff.’

My take: Old conventional wisdom: The collapse of independent mortgage companies opens the way for major banks to dominate mortgage lending on their terms.
New conventional wisdom: Major banks made major mistakes and got burned by the mortgage mess, too. They’re not looking to dominate anything -- they’re trying to reduce their exposure to the mortgage crisis.

Your thoughts? Insights? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.