One of the basic tenants of a free market economy is that it will find balance. It may find balance in a nice sooth way or it may find balance with a chain saw, a hammer and a guillotine. One way or another balance will be found. Profiting and preserving capital when the market decides to take few prisoners is a game of wits, played by those ready to win big or lose large. It is a game where nobody knows what the outcome will be. Play the game well and an investor will profit. Play the game wrong and an investor can go home with little or nothing.

Washington Mutual Inc., a Seattle based consumer and small business banking “thrift”, offers financial services to: retail customers, credit card customers, commercial customers and mortgage seekers. At the end of 2007, the company reported operating 2,257 retail banking outlets and 233