Having written Countrywide obituaries, Wall Street now moves enmasse from Calabasas to Pasadena, CA, towards its next victim in-waiting - IndyMac Bancorp. Inc (NYSE: IMB). As Indymac's share price crossed into sub-dollar area (81 cents as of now), warnings are starting to emit out of Wall Street and Washington. The same format applies - Mortgage security values and share prices plummeting, bankruptcy warnings, customers withdrawing funds, a run on the bank, class action lawsuits alleging SEC violations, calls for a federal bailout, effect on the linked financial ecosystem, etc. Here's a laundry list of IndyMac's troubles.

FoxBusiness - The Brualdi Law Firm P.C. announces class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of IndyMac Bancorp. Inc. The complaint charges IndyMac and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. IndyMac is the holding company for IndyMac Bank, F.S.B., a hybrid thrift / mortgage bank. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business and financial results.

Another class action lawsuit filed by Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLC targets the bank, CEO Michael W. Perry and A. Scott Keys, the bank's chief financial officer. And here's one more by Federman & Sherwood. Ok, just one more - This one by Stull, Stull & Brody.

Bizjournals - Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, sent the letters to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Federal Housing Finance Board and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. The letters reportedly said Schumer is concerned IndyMac "may have serious problems with its current loan holdings, and could face a failure if prescriptive measures are not taken quickly."

Pasadena Star-News - A financial collapse could leave scores of employees without jobs. At one point IndyMac employed about 3,000 workers in Pasadena, but that number has shifted several times as the bank has sought to "right-size" its operations. As of Friday, the bank's stock had lost 97 percent of its value over the past year, falling from a high of $31.50 a share to 75 cents in after-hours trading.

Wall Street Journal - Moody's Investors Service cut the servicer-quality ratings of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. on concerns about the mortgage lender's lack of capital amid the housing downturn. The agency lowered IndyMac's SQ ratings one notch to SQ3+ as a primary servicer of prime residential mortgage loans, and cut other ratings one level as well.

Time for the guessing game. Any prospective buyers for IndyMac? Is any federal/state housing and/or federal reserve organization about to get involved to 'facilitate' a merger? There's been rumors about Wells Fargo being interested a couple of months back. Anyway, I'm sure we'll have more detailed posts with a list of prospective suitors for an IndyMac merger or buyout or financing deal soon.

From what I've learned from the Countrywide and Bear Stearns fiascos, standard operating procedure goes something like this. Media, analysts, and sundry interested parties start off panic about an impending bankruptcy. Based on that, IndyMac's banking customers will start withdrawing funds, if they haven't already done so. Somebody, say, for example - Wells Fargo - steps in with the help and backing of some federal agency, and provides short-term funds to forestall the bankruptcy for a week or so. The next few days after that will produce feverish activity and rumors of a buyout, which will eventually happen, with IndyMac being sold lock, stock, barrel for peanuts, compared to its $31.5 per share value last year.