20 March 2008

Stocks Tumble Again, but Some Traders Win Big



Stocks jump after prior day’s big drop--- Investors take advantage of bargains amid good earnings

Dimon Offers Bear Stearns Bankers Stock, Cash to Stay

Bear investors may seek better dealtemplate_bastemplate_bas - A shareholder holdout against JPMorgan's $340-million bid is possible.

British billionaire Joseph Lewis hints he may seek to block takeover
Joe Lewis, who has suffered huge losses on his stake in Bear Stearns Cos., hinted in a securities filing that he may try to round up other investors to torpedo the firm's proposed takeover by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co… In the filing yesterday, Mr. Lewis also disclosed that he bought more shares of Bear shortly before its collapse. On March 13, just before J.P. Morgan and the Federal Reserve stepped in to keep Bear afloat, an entity affiliated with Mr. Lewis bought 569,000 shares of Bear Stearns at $55.13

Bear's Run-Up Sets the Stage For Epic Clash

'Paltry' Packages for Bear Executives

China's Citic Securities Co. dropped plans for a $1 billion cross-investment with Bear Stearns Cos. after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s deal to take over Bear…

Bear Stearns Prepares To Lawyer Up
Insisting that nothing was wrong one day, only for everything to go wrong the next, despite its insistence it was telling the truth throughout,the once-mighty Wall Street firm is readying itself for lawsuits.

Bear Stearns' Cayne, holder seek rival bid
Bear Chairman James Cayne and top shareholder Joe Lewis are quietly searching for a bidder that would top the offer from JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the New York Post reported on Wednesday. Cayne and Lewis have contacted private equity firms, including J.C. Flowers and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co as well as overseas banks Barclays, HSBC, Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Scotland. Cayne and Lewis combined hold nearly 15 % of the stock of cash-strapped Bear Stearns. The all-stock offer from JP Morgan values Bear Stearns at about $280 million, compared to its valuation of $7.7 billion a week ago.

JPMorgan aiming to keep best Bear execs
JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive James Dimon visited Bear Stearns' offices on Wednesday evening to speak to more than 400 senior executives, according to reports in the New York Times and Financial Times. The New York Times said Dimon made it clear that he hoped to retain the best employees at Bear, but also made it plain many of the 14,000 employees would lose their jobs if his bank completes a deal to buy Bear Stearns for $2 a share. The Financial Times reported JPMorgan is moving swiftly to retain Bear's top performing bankers and brokers and is preparing to deliver retention package offers for top employees as soon as Thursday, citing people close to the situation. The FT said the move comes as JPMorgan's rivals, such as Morgan Stanley have begun making efforts to pick off top Bear brokers with large bonus offers.

The fallout at Bear Stearns: Sore heads- Disaster yields disbelief—and disgruntlement

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