[BigTex]

To the issue of whether anything like this has happened before, when Drexel Burnham Lambert went down it was just this fast.

Also, E.F. Hutton basically got killed in the 1987 crash. Nobody would have believed that could happen a few years before because, you know, when E.F. Hutton talked, people listened.

[seldom_seen]

This guy, Joseph Lewis, just lost 1 billion dollars on his stock investment in Bear Stearns.
He paid an average 107/share for 11 million shares last year.



Morgan Stanley is out about 500 million so is the CEO.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... refer=home

[Ache]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')"Edouard Balladur, the former French [Gaullist] prime minister, memorably once asked: 'What is the market? It is the law of the jungle, the law of nature. And what is civilisation? It is the struggle against nature.'"

[GreyGhost]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Revi', 'T')his is really strange. Has anything like this ever happened before? Why on a Sunday?

Will there be more financial turmoil next week?

Will it spill over onto main street? How?

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

If they have a minimum buy in of 5000 shares at $63 that would mean you'd have to have bought in for $315,000, so if its now worth $2 you just lost $305,000. I think that would be more than enough to start as panic.

My drawers would need a change and I'd need some prozak, no wonder some guys jumped off buildings back in the 30's eh?

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')ssentially it's a "run on the bank", however not a retail bank, but an investment bank. The clients are not Joe 6 Pack, but rather very rich individuals and institutions

[pup55]

BSC Profile

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')r. Alan D. Schwartz is the Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer at Bear Stearns Companies Inc. He has also been a Director of Bear Stearns Companies Inc. since 1987 and a Member of its Executive Committee since June 25, 2001. Mr. Schwartz is also the President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Bear Stearns & Co., a subsidiary of Bear Stearns Companies Inc. since June 25, 2001. He served as an Executive Vice President and Head of the Investment Banking Department .

[Cid_Yama]

If you owned Bear Stearns, or your investments were managed by them, you woke up this morning to find you've lost everything.(and of course, if you worked there, you don't.)

Other investors are scrambling to save what they can, as the spotlight turns to the other banks that have been trying to hide in the shadows. Since <i>their</i> vaults are empty too, expect this thing to cascade.

CNBC have pulled out all the cheerleaders. I imagine they are calling Kudlow and dragging him out of bed right now. Asian Markets were a slaughter. To say it was bad would be an understatement. Billions have evaporated overnight, tens of billions to come today.

[Bas]

yes, I've been watching the mayhem for hours now, fascinating!

[SteinarN]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', '[')url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=170633&symbol=BSC]BSC Profile[/url]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')r. Alan D. Schwartz is the Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer at Bear Stearns Companies Inc. He has also been a Director of Bear Stearns Companies Inc. since 1987 and a Member of its Executive Committee since June 25, 2001. Mr. Schwartz is also the President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Bear Stearns & Co., a subsidiary of Bear Stearns Companies Inc. since June 25, 2001. He served as an Executive Vice President and Head of the Investment Banking Department .

[dinopello]

Interesting that shares of BSC are being bought today at over $3 a share.

[Last_Laff]

Bas, how are you watching this and or where?

[benzoil]

And yet....the Dow is basically even at 10:30AM EST. I guess they're already pricing in a full basis point cut between now and the Fed meeting.

At some point, they're going to have to book some serious losses. The Fed is about out of bullets.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Last_Laff', 'B')as, how are you watching this and or where?

[Bas]

What does it mean?

The lack of government regulation of the financial industry, the laissez fare attitude, has allowed for this incredible mess to develop...

[Cid_Yama]

Headhunters are already out there comparing Bear Stearns to Enron. There are already being raised questions of criminal wrongdoing. Problem is, any criminal wrongdoing by Bear Stearns will also have been happening throughout the banking system. Once the legal sharks start circling, the whole game is in trouble.

[efarmer]

Greenspan running his jaw is like a retired priest walking around
town and calling people out for their sins for free beer and
eats. Now if he and O.J. Simpson get together we can have
a sequel book.

How We Could Have Done This.

This is that time that Warren Buffet spoke of that has
the tide ripping out like it does before a tsunami and
all of the folks swimming naked making themselves
a thong and bra out of seaweed for the long march
across the sand.

Somewhere out on the drying sand is a bear and a shark
who choked to death with each others tails in their mouth.

[BillPeakOil]

Efarmer, thats a good point on Greenspan. Its amazing how many quotes you hear from him considering he is 'retired'!

[efarmer]

Has Mr. Greenspan crowed that the reverse yield
conundrum is now solved?

BONDS PRICE YIELD
2-Year 101.250 1.35
10-Year 101.344 3.34
30-Year 101.484 4.29

[Cid_Yama]

CNBC is showing Bear Stearns employees leaving the building with their personal belongings in boxes. Looks just like a repeat of Enron.

Lehman Brothers now down 25%, even with the Fed action. That means they have to be getting hit with Margin Calls. Will they die as quickly as Bear Stearns?

Hey Buddy, can you spare $2 a share?