BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

Just last year Bear Stearns was trading at $170 a share.  However, this weekend after a hastily put together deal, JP Morgan backed by the Fed purchased the Bear before it filed for bankruptcy.  That had been the plan, obviously.  Reports indicate that as JP Morgan and the Fed poured over the Bear books, lawyers for Bear Stearns worked feverishly to prepare bankruptcy forms in case the deal fell through.

Well, JP Morgan Chase are taking over the Bear, lock, stock and dubious deals.  The urgency of the weekend deal was to have it signed, sealed, and announced before the Asian markets opened.  As we know, if the Asian market starts to slide down the side of Mt. Everest, well, all the other climbers fall with it.

The cost to JP Morgan for the purchase was $270 Million in stocks.  While it seems that the Bear may be able to go back into hibernation for a few more weeks, approximately one-third of its employees may be looking for jobs soon.  Due to overlapping positions as the two companies marry and become one, the first cost cutting measure will be to cut jobs.

It was reported that Bear had about 14,000 employees, so just as a heads up on the job losses for March, we can pretty well count about 4,600 more if JP Morgan follows through.  Looks like it’s getting as tough on Wall Street as it has been on Main Street.

But, what goes up must come down… We can honestly say that times are starting to get tough all over.