Thats too much cash in this climate. Thats like a major run on them and there wouldn't any good way to spin it.
I suspect they would buy the maximum legally acceptable and use subsidiaries to accumulate more.
Example if they bought about 300M shares of WAMU.
Then we get a 4:1 swap, they would save themselves a ton of cash.
1.7B/4 = 425M shares of JPM.
300M/4 = 075M shares of JPM
Total JPM OS Dilution = 350M shares.
They would then get the FDIC to chip in $7-8B as part of deal which would cover liabilities (Note and Bondholders).
Finally, $26B was book value but CASH is king. JPM paying cash instead of paper would be the wrong approach to their advantage but for me it doesn't matter how I get paid. Just Pay Me.
Remember with cash, you can leverage 10:1 conservatively or 20-30:1 if you are JPM.
GLTY.
For Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free