The Washington Post is now confirming the story first reported on DealBreaker four and half hours ago: the Treasury and the Fed are helping Lehman find buyers.
The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are helping Lehman Brothers put itself up for sale. The details are not finalized, but sources familiar with the matter say the purchase is expected to be completed and announced this weekend before Asian markets open Monday morning.
U.S. Government Assisting in Sale of Lehman Brothers [Washington Post]
stop congratulating yourself
#1,
shut your mouth.
This is such a joke. If the IB’s have gotten so big that one failing means total systemic collapse of the financial system, which necessitates a Fed led bailout, then they need to be under a lot stricter regulation. I mean LEH is what, 25 to 1 or 30 to 1 in terms of leverage?
@3
add a few zeros. Less than 3 billion market cap and a 600 billion dollar balance sheet? you do the math while I puke.
I think the Fed needs to follow the highly successful Japanese model of supporting businesses that aren’t capable of utilizing assets efficiently because failure will bring shame and that’s unacceptable. This is the only way to maximize economic growth.
1994 Nikkei 20,000
2008 Nikkei 12,000
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=^N225&t=my
With a little Fed intervention we can get those 600 Starbucks Coffee Houses reopened by the end of next week. Our tax dollars hard at work FUCK YEA BITCHES! I thought I paid taxes to make sure the shit in my toilet left my house. When in fact I’m really paying taxes to eat someone else’s shitty business decisions. Mom and pop liar loans and Dick Folds “leadership schmeadership problems fix themselves” survival plan. The Feds definition of MC=MR is obviously superior.
I might claim Fold as a dependent on my taxes this year.
SPODE
I’ll congratulate you. Well done!
LEH is saved BAC to buy LEH at $7/share announcement Sunday before ASIA open.
congrats?
@7
BS
I’m not always a fan, SPODE, but that was a good post.
@9
You’re calling bullsh!t to the $7 price? or are you also being helpful and your initials just happen to be B.S.?
Nobody would pay a dime for Lehman… without a tasty little treat from the Feds for doing it. BAC will buy Lehman after the pot gets sweet enough… for example having the Feds take over “bad bank”
Lehman is dead.
Lehman’s disappearance will be a loss to Wall Street. Lehman may not be universally well-liked. But who is?
But I gotta take my hat off to Dick Fuld and those at Lehman for their tenacity and stamina. They proved the doubters wrong time and time again since they bought their freedom from American Express. The shit they have gone through would have destroyed a lesser firm a long time ago.
I am sure many of the talented individuals will find employment elsewhere. The Earth will keep spinning and we keep on dancing.
Anyone who wants to join 14 in a rousing rendition of “Koom bai ya” should convene on Seventh Avenue at 9:15 am tomorrow. Drum Circle to follow.
Paulson is getting out the bazooka again? I thought they had gun control in DC.
My guess is they get bought at 1.15 a share.
sad
@14 – Fuld just killed this firm.
* Didn’t take dump his own toxic mortgage waste as BSC was imploding in March, nor afterward.
* Didn’t put together a deal to save this firm in recent weeks.
Check the chart, they had plenty of time to get things under control:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=LEH&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
Either it was arrogance, or stupidity, but the net effect is the same.
SPODE, good post. i’ll buy you a round if I ever make it to a DB gathering.
The story of Lehman (and other IBs), in pictures:
http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?revision=_latest&fs=true&docID=ddv7hj34_03774hsc7&skipauth=true
Just click to advance the slides.
@14 here
Yes, Fuld has sunk the Lehman ship. I think all the Wall Steet CEOs didn’t foresee the kind of crisis we are seeing now and they did not anticipate the markets to disappear all together. But no excuse, the ship sunk on Fuld’s watch.
Fuld is such a battle-hardened man that at times like now, he’d just shut out to the people around him and rely on his instincts only. He probably felt he could no longer trust anybody. I think Fuld felt he was going to fall victim to a case of “et tu Brute” from those cloest to him. The senior management changes made in recent weeks proved this.
I am surprised Fuld’s consigliere Felix Rohatyn has not played a more prominent role in this. Anyone know if he’s involved in any of the talks?
@5
SPODE,
That’s the best rant I’ve ever read on this site.
WaPo, a highly “Reliable Source”, bullspit.
# 14 drank the cool aid.
AXP DUMPED LEH. AXP told DF & CP to “get the fuck out, we are spinning you off”.
LEH spin: Bot their way out
Truth: dumped like a piece of garbage
From a NY Times artile late 2007
“Lehman seemed to protect itself better than others in the third quarter,” said Michael Mayo, a Deutsche Bank analyst who has generally been an outspoken critic of subpar bank leadership but who credits Mr. Fuld with being way ahead of his peers. “That’s helped by having one of the most consistent cultures on the Street — one C.E.O. for over a decade, a one-firm mentality and comprehensive risk management.”
Fuld milked that teet for years and now he gets a hand out from the Fed. Is Wall Street the bastion of socialism? Sure seems like it. All of his minions are still on deck and he’ll get a golden helicopter to whisk him away. What a joke. Begging to be saved by anything and anyone….Goldman, BAC, KDB…short the acquirer.
@psst: Fine job on the scoops Carney. Doesn’t matter too much but you can really separate yourself from the other journalists by realizing that the major Asian markets won’t open Sunday night: Respect for the Aged Day in Japan. Mid-Autumn festival in Hong Kong. Chuseok (Thanksgiving) in Korea. Might buy them an extra 8 hours or so before Europe opens to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on a deal.
8jsFYP Very good blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Great.