Raise Your Hand If You're 100 Percent Pleased With Your Bear Experience

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 3:58PM

I hope the judge throws a thick, hardcover edition of "Random Walk Down Wall Street" at the plaintiff.

Posted by Random Banker, Apr 11, 2008 3:59PM

That's what you get for listening to a broker

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 4:00PM

@HAM05 - oh come one, how could this not be fun:

http://blog.trenchcoatsoft.com/images/it025.jpg

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 4:05PM

For a billionaire, that represents a .7% position in BSC. Too bad they lost $6+ million, but the advice was not unreasonable and didn't result in any undue concentration of risk in their portfolio.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 4:10PM

@4:05 I can assure you the plaintiff will object to you being part of the jury regardless of whether or not you have a reasonable and objective point.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 4:14PM

How about that matter of the unpaid balances on their orders? Sounds like the forced liquidation may have gotten them out earlier than the famous $2 or subsequent $10 offers.

Posted by my2cents, Apr 11, 2008 4:18PM

Can someone who has done their series7 more recently than me confirm that but i thought that failure to pay for stock that was acquired would be grounds for the broker to sell out the position and freeze the account?
Besides has anyone met a broker who doesn't try to sell you pretty much anything and everything?

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 4:19PM

Yes, and no.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 4:25PM

Bear were a bunch of piker joey tools who finally got was was comin. Jamie Dimon is going to send em all back to Crooklyn and SI and take that place apart like a 5 year old taking apart Leggos

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 4:29PM

This guy wasn't exactly an old lady in tennis shoes. So... you're telling me this is a billionaire that never bought stock before?

He doesn't understand the right of brokers to liquidate accounts when you don't pay for the stock you ordered?

Let me get this straight. His broker pitches him a stock. And the due diligence was what? That's it? On a $6.5 million investment? It's Bud Fox's dream!

And ... even better ... the broker works for the company that sold the shares. And - guess what - he's optimistic about the company he works for. And you took conflicted broker's advice on its face??

And then Mr. Wang, you allege that the Bear lied and concealed information about it's condition? Let me tell you I will EAT MY SHORTS if either of the following are even a little bit untrue:
- the broker completely believed the positive story, as did everyone else at BSC, top to bottom.
- the broker was just as surprised and lost as much or more (in relative terms) on March 16 as Wang did.

Interests were perfectly aligned, actually. The advice was not unbiased, but it was not conflicted.

Sometimes you plan a parade and it rains!!! If you're afraid to get wet, stay inside!!!

I should sue Wang, look how upset he is making me!!!!

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:04PM

Ask Wang. He'll tell you. We just bought property behind the Great Wall. On the good side!

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:09PM

5:04 - classic, made my day.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:30PM

This guy didn't complete payment for the stock and now he is complaining? What's the Chinese word for "chutzpah?"

Of all the misery the Bear collapse has created, this story is the least moving.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:36PM

Disagree with @4:25pm that Bear Stearns' employees "were a bunch of piker joey tools who finally got [what] was comin." Ridiculous, inaccurate hyperbole.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:39PM

Read the L.A. Times story. Mr. Wang didn't complete payment because Bear had collapsed before he had finished paying for the stock.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:40PM

Does anyone have any news about the Bear layoff situation?

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:46PM

@5:39 The stock "collapsed" in price but it was still actively trading. Trading wasn't halted and Bear was not delisted. There's no new information in that fact. We all saw what happened to the price.

Nothing prevented Wang from remitting the funds to purchase what he agreed at the price he agreed.

Turned out that the price moved a lot before and after. Turned out to be a bad deal. That's it.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 5:47PM

@5:39-- no, it says he *refused* to pay. "The client, H. Roger Wang -- who operates high-end retail stores in China -- says Bear on March 18 illegally liquidated the account that held the stock after Wang and his wife refused to send in unpaid balances on their orders."

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 6:10PM

I posted @5:39pm. I don't disagree with @5:46pm and 5:47pm. Mr. Wang saw on 3/16 he had made a disastrously bad deal earlier and refused to complete payment. Obviously, he wanted to salvage as much money as he could. It's one Bear story that's not particularly sympathetic.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 6:44PM

why does this man being "chinese" have anything to do with this story..."a bunch of chinese guys"?

does bess levin always denote the ethnicity of the subjects of her stories?

"A bunch of jew guys lost some money in bear stock" doesn't have the same ring to your ear. i bet.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 6:45PM

it's a joke referring to the fact that china government owned citic was also had by bear.

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 8:14PM

Mr. Wang! It's only a parking lot!

Posted by JorgeCad, Apr 11, 2008 8:31PM

@4:05 has nailed it perfectly.

I am not a broker, so really don't care about "know your client" rules. All I can say is this, the dude knew exactly the risks he was taking.

Like Joe Lewis, he thought he was smarter than all of us. He was wrong. Sadly, it does not matter.

Like the billionaire that he (they) are, always remember this, its just a game for these dudes. I can assure you, its really nothing for them. They will be fine. "just a drop in the bucket" for them.

I can assure you that Joe has all sorts of stuff hapenning in The Bahamas. The old man probably does not even care!

geo

Posted by guest, Apr 11, 2008 9:49PM

@6:44 - yeah, "a bunch of jew guys" losing money in Bear Stearns sounds WAY funnier.

Posted by Finnegan, Apr 12, 2008 9:20AM

Bears can be gentle with a bit of honey.

Posted by guest, Apr 13, 2008 5:19PM

I want the $2500.00 I lost on Mirant's BK back. 800 Pound Gorilla my ass.

Posted by guest, Apr 13, 2008 5:24PM

I'm reminded...at this point...about the little tiny squirrel who was taking a shit in Yellowstone Park one day and a giant shadow loomed over him. The shadow belonged to a giant grizzly bear. The bear, sensing the little squirrel was very frightened, said, "Fear not little squirrel for I have only come to sit here and take a dump like you." In a short while, the grizzly bear said to the squirrel, "Oh, by the way, do you have trouble with the shit sticking to your fur?" The little squirrel said, "No, Mr. Bear.."

So, the grizzly promptly wiped his ass with the squirrel.

So ends the lesson.

Posted by guest, Apr 14, 2008 3:10AM

Check out this "YOU TUBE" CARTOON of the Federal Reserve dreaming and JP - gobbling up Bear Stearns. Sometimes you get the ghost and other times, the ghost gets you!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz3MNk24nWw

Posted by guest, Apr 14, 2008 2:09PM

Many layoffs now being commuicated to all staff. Most should know their fate by April 16. By week's end, everyone except for those interviewing for country transitions will know. Cue the liquor. Cue the walk to the unemployment office to sign up for benefits. Fuck Alan, Jamie and most of all, Jimmy. Also fuck the fixed income head assholes who made it to the top of JPM. Talk about populating your best seats with the worst asses.

Posted by guest, Apr 19, 2008 6:01AM

ITS FUNNY HOW YOU ARE ALL CALLING A SELF MADE BILLIONAIRE NAIVE WHEN IT IS YOU THAT BELIEVES THE WHOLE STORY IS SIMPLY JUST WHAT IS PLACED IN FRONT OF YOU TO READ. IF YOU EVEN BOTHERED TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE, YOU WOULD'VE SEEN THAT IT WAS A SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR OF BEAR STERNS THAT TOLD HIM THE STOCK WAS SOUND, THE VALUE SHOULD BE AT LEAST $85 PER SHARE, ETC.

OBVIOUSLY THIS MAN ISNT STUPID AND THERE WOULD BE NO LAWSUIT UNLESS HE HAD A CASE. SINCE HE DIDNT GIVE CONSENT OR TALK TO THE LA TIMES DIRECTLY, MANY DETAILS ARE LEFT OUT. I DID MY RESEARCH, AND HE IS A PROMINENT AND POWERFUL BUSINESSMAN WHO IS FRIENDLY WITH A LOT OF OTHER SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMEN (BEAR STERN EXECS AND BOARD MEMBERS INCLUDED)....THERE WAS CLEARLY SOME SORT OF SHADY BUSINESS GOING ON

Posted by guest, Apr 19, 2008 11:43AM

@6:01am. Not necessarily true that there would be no lawsuit unless Mr. Wang had a case. Plenty of people, promiment and powerful businessmen included, think they have cases, sue, and find out the judge thinks otherwise. In court, it really doesn't matter who you know, because they aren't going to testify. The facts and the law tend to be the important things. If there was some sort of shady business going on, the judge always wants to know if the claimant's hands are clean. So, the question becomes, did Mr. Wang make a deal and pay what he committed to pay? Or is he just trying to wrangle out of what became in retrospect a disastrous business deal?