Lehman Bros Bankrupt, Merrill Lynch Taken Over, AIG In Trouble - With Video
They say what is happening is an adjustment and that pure Capitalism is returning…
NEW YORK-Global markets plummeted on Monday after investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, rival Merrill Lynch agreed to be taken over and the Federal Reserve threw a life line to the battered financial industry.
As a deepening crisis took new, bigger victims, The U.S. Federal Reserve said for the first time it would accept stocks in exchange for cash loans and 10 of the world’s top banks agreed to establish a $70 billion emergency fund, with any one of them able to tap up to a third of that.
On a black Sunday for Wall Street, frantic attempts to find a rescuer for Lehman failed, and troubled insurer American International Group asked the Fed for a lifeline, according to news reports.
The events signal a seismic shift in Wall Street’s power structure with big name investment banks biting the dust and major banks like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase becoming the survivors.
President Bush comments:
“It’s a return to pure capitalism, the survival of the fittest — the government can’t and won’t bail everybody out,” said Justin Urquhart Stewart, investment director at 7 Investment Management in London.
“Investors will now retreat to the trustworthy banks, though that’s not a phrase that trips off the tongue easily nowadays.”
Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill Lynch in an all-stock deal worth $50 billion, seeking a bargain as the world’s largest retail brokerage sought refuge from fears it could be the next victim.
“It’s just shockingly fast how it happened,” an employee for Merrill in Asia said. “It’s hard to believe there will be no more Merrill Lynch,” he said of his firm, known as The Thundering Herd.
Asian and European stock markets tumbled as the worries about Lehman counterparty risk and further financial market turmoil sent investors scurrying for safe havens such as gold.
Read the full Reuters article here.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
and like a self cleaning oven the door locks shut and everything inside is consumed, which is exactly the way it should be.
September 15th, 2008 at 8:04 amI think I’m going to buy some Bank of America Stock
September 15th, 2008 at 8:05 amHmm I wonder if I should look into buying some stock. I mean payday was today, and since I’m buying a motorcycle, I should be able to invest half of my paycheck and still save enough. Thank God for also getting paid by the Army
God it sucks that I don’t know crap about investing yet. I know I could end up being a millionaire and still have the Army as a Career. That one saying is dead wrong. Ignorance isn’t bliss, ignorance is future financial problems for my retirement.
September 15th, 2008 at 8:16 amAIG can eat it.
September 15th, 2008 at 9:24 amI’d hold off a little Rob and enjoy your motorcycle.
When the driftwood clears, then buy a little at a time. The stock market is so reactive anymore, any bit of bad news and whoosh, down 300 points. Wall Street has become a crap shoot, based more on perception than fundamentals - just like the commodity trading room.
Taking the contrarian viewpoint, I generally do much better.
September 15th, 2008 at 9:47 am