Monday, March 17, 2008

Scenes From the Mortgage Crisis, Part Next

Bear Stearns, which this time last year was buying sub-prime mortgages and announcing the worst was over, has been sold to JP Morgan Chase & Co. for $2 a share, which the Wall Street Journal characterized as a"fire sale." The Fed is throwing in $30 billion to shore up the deal.
The stock closed at $88.25 on December 31st, and was trading at $30 a share when the market closed Friday.
Bear Stearns Chairman Jimmy Cayne spent last week playing cards in a bridge tournament.
A report in Britain's Guardian notes that while most executives and traders are going to be stiffed, $1 billion has been set aside for exit packages for the top executives.

Added note: JP Morgan paid less for Bear Stearns than the Yankees paid for Alex Rodriguez.

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