djc
03-17-2008, 03:44 AM
Pushed to the brink of collapse by the mortgage crisis, Bear Stearns (http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=bsc) Cos. agreed -- after prodding by the federal government -- to be sold to J.P. Morgan Chase (http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=jpm) & Co. for the fire-sale price of $2 a share in stock, or about $236 million.
Bear Stearns had a stock-market value of about $3.5 billion as of Friday -- and was worth $20 billion in January 2007. But the crisis of confidence that swept the firm and fueled a customer exodus in recent days left Bear Stearns with a horrible choice: sell the firm -- at any price -- to a big bank willing to assume its trading obligations or file for bankruptcy.
"At the end of the day, what Bear Stearns was looking at was either taking $2 a share or going bust," said one person involved in the negotiations. "Those were the only options."
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Wow... This company' stock was at 50-60 two days ago.
Maybe its time to short Lehman too :)
Bear Stearns had a stock-market value of about $3.5 billion as of Friday -- and was worth $20 billion in January 2007. But the crisis of confidence that swept the firm and fueled a customer exodus in recent days left Bear Stearns with a horrible choice: sell the firm -- at any price -- to a big bank willing to assume its trading obligations or file for bankruptcy.
"At the end of the day, what Bear Stearns was looking at was either taking $2 a share or going bust," said one person involved in the negotiations. "Those were the only options."
---
Wow... This company' stock was at 50-60 two days ago.
Maybe its time to short Lehman too :)