Refer to pg 104 of WMI's last 10K (post# 501576) re Stockholder's Equity and the +$18B Retained Earnings.
Quote..."Shareholder's Equity is listed on a company's balance sheet and measures the company's net worth. A company's Shareholder's Equity is calculated by subtracting a company's total liabilities from its total assets, which are also listed on a company's balance sheet."
Based on the above description and the last WMI 10K filing in early 2008, for WMI to go from a +$18B Retained Earnings surplus to a -$20B Retained Earnings deficit,...$20-$30B+ in assets would have had to be removed from WMI's books (possession), without compensation and/or without removing any of the accompanying liabilities, thus creating such a deficit.
All IMHO..........
Escrow Returns: $2-$10 Billion