Bulls, Bears & Bucks #20: Lehman failliet, Merrill overgenomen

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 10:41 schreef Freak187 het volgende:
Ik las ergens op BBC dat de Lehman bros. ook in zwaar weer zit?

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 10:07 schreef Semisane het volgende:
tvp, want ik ben eigenlijk nog steeds benieuwd over de val van het kapitalisme en vrijemarkt principe welke vooral de grote bedrijven in USA altijd zo voorstonden en nu masaal loslaten nu ze het moeilijk hebben.

Niet alleen Fannie Mae en Freddie Mac, maar ook opeens de "oer-industie van de USA, Autoproducenten vragen Washington om hulp

Ergens toch wel komisch dat ze geheel desperaat terug in de schoot van vadertje-overheid kruipen.

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 10:40 schreef ktnxbye het volgende:
omdat ik wil weten hoe het met de dollar gaat... tvp

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 11:06 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

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ja die mag wel meedelen in het verlies maar niet in de winst

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 10:48 schreef Xtreem het volgende:

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Is dat wat nieuws dan?

_tvp

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Kevin Depew's Five Things You Need to Know to stay ahead of the pack on Wall Street:

As the ongoing debt crisis continues, we have transitioned from Stage 1, the initial Wall Street impact of debt deleveraging, to Stage 2, the Main Street impact, and on Sunday kicked off Stage 3, the coordinated Fiscal and Monetary response to the debt crisis. Before we get to the What Next? question, let's revisit the basics of what is happening and what it means.


1. What is a "Credit Crunch"?

The simple answer is that a "credit crunch" is a general decline in the the supply of, and demand for, credit.

Under certain circumstances, the market (and sometimes the Federal Reserve) can induce a decline in the supply of credit (or at least a decline in the growth rate of the supply of credit) by raising interest rates. This makes money more expensive for borrowers, and as a result slows the growth and demand for available credit. This is what a central bank attempts to do when the growth of inflation exceeds their "comfort level."

But a credit crunch occurs when banks become more risk averse - less willing to lend - even though interest rates may remain the same, and in extreme cases, even though interest rates may go lower.

This risk aversion on the part of lenders makes it more difficult for even the most credit-worthy borrowers to obtain money at reasonable terms. In effect, interest rates - the cost of money - can become infinitely high for many borrowers. As a result, it becomes difficult to fund projects and investments, which can slow economic growth, which in turn can make lenders even more unwilling to lend; a vicious cycle of economic pain.


2. Why does credit growth matter in the first place?

Because in our fiat-based monetary system, economic growth is dependent upon credit expansion.

What does that mean? And why is it a problem?

First, a "fiat-based monetary system" is simply the name economists give to an economic system where money is created through fractional reserve banking techniques. Fractional reserve banking is the practice of issuing more money than a bank holds in cash reserves. So, in a fiat-based monetary system, if risk appetites are supportive - that is, if borrowers are willing to take on debt - then credit expansion can feed into normal risk-seeking behavior, and if excessive can foster unsustainable booms; dot.coms, housing.

As long as credit expansion and demand for credit continues at an accelerating pace, the appearance of prosperity continues as asset prices increase.

The "accelerating pace" aspect is critical. It is the key to maintaining the boom. Access to capital and credit is essential to growth in our current economy, and if that access is restrained the cycle reinforces itself.

But there are two sides to the credit coin. Access to capital is one side, but demand for capital is the other side. That is the side the central bank cannot control. A central bank can make credit available, but there must be a demand for it or it's like throwing a party no one comes to.

As this debt crisis has now entered the second stage, where the impact on Main Street begins to intensify, there will be a kickback to Wall Street in the form of sluggish consumer spending, lower economic activity and a deceleration in credit demand and risk appetites. As the New York Times reported this morning, the Federal Reserve yesterday said consumer borrowing grew at an annual rate of just 2.1 percent in July, the slowest pace since last December. The category worst hit was auto loans, where credit demand fell to its lowest level in 16 years.


3. What do we mean by "credit expansion," anyway?

First, credit is not in and of itself necessarily a bad thing. Capitalism thrives on the productive use of credit. But what has transpired over the past decade is that credit has increasingly been used as a substitute for, or to mask, weak economic growth.

Since the early 1990s, new money was created by the banking system and offered at artificially low interest rates and, later, to borrowers with increasingly low credit quality. By offering willing borrowers money at artificially low rates, this encouraged increased time preferences among economic actors, which is to say that investment horizons were lengthened and risk tolerances were widened.

This is how debt was pyramided to such an extent that one small setback, in subprime borrowing for example, resulted in such a widespread problem, problems which quickly spread to other, supposedly safe credit risks.

By offering willing borrowers money at artificially low rates, this encouraged increased time preferences among economic actors, which is to say that investment horizons were lengthened and risk tolerances were widened. This money was then overinvested and misallocated by investors in dot.com ventures and houses.

In hindsight, once the herd has dispersed, it always seems as if these investors were simply dumb. After all, who could now believe that an "undertaking of great advantage; but nobody to know what it is" could be a reasonable investment? Probably, no one. However at the time, during the South Sea Bubble of 1720, quite a few investors figured just such a company made really good economic sense. Seriously.


4. How, then, did we transition from credit expansion to a credit crunch?

Because credit expansion distorts capital investments and spending by creating the "illusion" of prosperity, when the time comes to pay back what is borrowed investors and lenders discover that they have misallocated their capital. This leads to losses because the only way to turn a misallocation of capital into a gain is to sell it at a higher price to someone who still believes it will go up in the future.

This loss of capital creates risk aversion; lenders suddenly find they are not being repaid, say, by subprime borrowers who are defaulting on their mortgages. These lenders in turn - remember this is a fractional banking system - find that because they used the repayment of these loans as collateral for loans they took out to "malinvest," suddenly discover they are unable to repay some of their debts. The lender's lender is in the same boat, as is the lender's lender's lender. So, what do these lenders do? They "de-lever." In other words, they sell whatever they can - whatever is still liquid (say, U.S. stocks, for example) in order to raise capital to repay loans. This pressures asset prices.

We then have a situation where the fear of not having money (U.S. dollars) to pay down debt spreads. This deepens further risk aversion. Time preferences shrink. Lenders in many cases cannot, or are no longer willing to, extend credit beyond the very short term, for they fear not being repaid.


5. What Next?

So what happens next?

The Fed can (and is) making even more credit available; a monetary response. This response is designed to relieve tight credit conditions among financial institutions, but so far, despite an array of special lending programs created over the past year, the creation of weird acronyms and the opening of access to the Fed's discount window to broker-dealers, the response has been weak, largely because of the size of the housing market, the speed of the housing deflation and the leverage involved.

When monetary policy is insufficient to stop the credit crunch, government can step in and create any number of mechanisms to essentially bailout lenders and borrowers; a direct fiscal response. We are seeing this happen now with Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE).

But by targeting asset prices and attempting to "manage the economy" the Fed and the government ironically create the conditions for a market that is too large for it to control. As a result, crashes, unwindings of speculative bubbles, become more devastating, and affect far more people in the real economy.

The next step for the Federal Reserve in terms of monetary policy will probably be to follow up the FNM, FRE bailout with a series of short-term interest rate cuts, perhaps beginning as soon as the September 16 meeting. As a series of rate cuts will likely not (at first) appear to be sufficient to kickstart credit demand (with the psychology of deflation now beginning to firmly take hold), the Fed will have little choice but to adopt the quantitative easing policy the Bank of Japan used when the typical path of monetary expansion - reductions in target short-term interest rates - failed to increase the money supply.

On the fiscal side, one consequence of the debt crisis will be new, sweeping regulations for financial institutions, as well as increases in the balance sheet of the government. The regulatory changes, some of which are already being kicked around in Washington, will further impinge the earnings ability for banks and financials.

Presently, the market is most focused on which banks will survive the crisis. As monetary and fiscal policy combines to maintain at least the appearance of no large bank failures (local and smaller regionals will be left on their own), the shift will move by early next year from fear of failure to questions about how these banks will be able to make money under a strict regulatory environment.

Meanwhile, other fiscal policy will focus on increases in public works projects targeting infrastructure, as well as increases in military spending and other government programs to help Americans deal with the transition from boom to bust and back again.

This will play out over a long period of time, almost in slow motion. There will be many meaningless policy announcements and adjustments and the captains of financials, real estate and industry will make many, many more declarations that The Bottom is in until eventually no one listens anymore. But we must realize that even now, just when it appears it is over, it is really only beginning.

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 10:07 schreef Semisane het volgende:
tvp, want ik ben eigenlijk nog steeds benieuwd over de val van het kapitalisme en vrijemarkt principe welke vooral de grote bedrijven in USA altijd zo voorstonden en nu masaal loslaten nu ze het moeilijk hebben.

Niet alleen Fannie Mae en Freddie Mac, maar ook opeens de "oer-industie van de USA, Autoproducenten vragen Washington om hulp

Ergens toch wel komisch dat ze geheel desperaat terug in de schoot van vadertje-overheid kruipen.

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 13:22 schreef geenID het volgende:

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Er was al amper kapitalisme, alles zit onder zware regulatie en vooral dat laatste is debet aan de huidige systematische problemen. Dit type structuur wordt quasi-liberalisatie genoemd en is uiteindelijk nog erger dan nationalisatie. De SEC, FDIC, FSIS, etc., kunnen heel leuk individuele kleine probleempjes oplossen en symptoombestijiden, maar er komt een extreme moral hazard door en dan krijg je de huidige problemen. Kapitalisme valt het niet te noemen iig.

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 13:36 schreef Semisane het volgende:

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Toch blijft het raar dat deze bedrijven uit markten en industriën die altijd het hardst hebben geroepen dat de overheid zich vooral niet moest bemoeien met hun en hun methodes _{Financiele markt en auto industrie}, nu het hardst rennen naar die zelfde overheid voor hulp.

Het meest triest is uiteraard dat er idd niks zal veranderen, daar de overheid waarschijnlijk niets meer zal doen dan wat symptoombestrijding en kleine niet-er-toe-doen probleempjes oplossen en de maatschappij zal laten opdraaien voor de enorme kosten die men zal moeten maken om deze bedrijven te redden.

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Lehman posts $3.9 billion loss, selling assets

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Lehman Bros. Holdings on Wednesday said it lost $3.9 billion in the third quarter after taking a gross mark-to-market loss of $7.8 billion. The company also said it cut its quarterly dividend to 5 cents a share from 68 cents a share and will spin off its commercial real-estate holdings to shareholders while selling a majority stake in its Neuberger Berman investment-management division.

Lehman's third-quarter loss amounted to $5.62 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had been looking for the company to report a loss of $2.81 a share, while Morgan Stanley predicted the financial firm would post a loss of $2.80 a share, on the back of a $3.5 billion write-down.

The firm said late Tuesday that it would report third-quarter results before the open Wednesday, a week earlier than had been anticipated, in a bid to calm investors shaken by a session that wiped out nearly half of the brokerage firm's market. Shares of Lehman, which had been scheduled to report results on Sept. 18, fell about 45% on Tuesday, plunging to $7.79. It was the company's biggest one-day percentage decline ever, dragging the share price down 85% from where it stood a year ago.

Pressure has been building on Lehman to disclose its financial status as financial markets have grown increasingly concerned over its ability to raise capital and shed underperforming assets, against a backdrop of the government taking over Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac and, earlier this year, Bear Stearns collapsing. Underscoring concerns about the brokerage's financial health, Standard & Poor's put Lehman credit ratings under review for possible downgrade on Tuesday.

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Op woensdag 10 september 2008 13:49 schreef SeLang het volgende:

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Wat betreft Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac etc: dit is natuurlijk geen bailout voor de aandeelhouders.

[ afbeelding ]

[ afbeelding ]

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Op donderdag 11 september 2008 15:14 schreef Basp1 het volgende:

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Maar wat is nu de rente die betaald gaat worden op die obligaties, dat staat alleen niet in dit bericht.

Wordt het een reele rente die boven de inflatie uitkomt, of niet, of zijn er veel niet amerikaanse investeerders die erop gokken dat de dollar nog een stuk in waarde zal stijgen en men zodoende nog wel wat rendement hierop gaat draaien.

Ik vind het verschil tussen de huidige 70 en toendertijd 122 rentepunten opslag nu ook niet echt schokkend te noemen.

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Op donderdag 11 september 2008 16:30 schreef Basp1 het volgende:

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Maar het gaat hier maar om 2 jarige obligaties die dus 2.5+.0.7 = 3.2% geven.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is actively shopping itself to potential buyers including Bank of America Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday on its Web site, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares of Lehman dropped more than 40% on the day as it struggles to shore up confidence with investors and clients. Potential buyers are looking to the U.S. government to help backstop future losses at Lehman, according to the Journal.

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Op donderdag 11 september 2008 16:11 schreef SeLang het volgende:
Euro: 1.3894

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The death of OPEC
Posted Sep 11 2008, 07:01 AM by Douglas McIntyre Rating: Saudi Arabia walked out on OPEC yesterday, saying it would not honor the cartel's production cut. It was tired of rants from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the well-dressed oil minister from Iran.

As the world's largest crude exporter, the kingdom in the desert took its ball and went home.

As the Saudis left the building, the message was shockingly clear. “Saudi Arabia will meet the market’s demand,” a senior OPEC delegate told the New York Times. “We will see what the market requires and we will not leave a customer without oil."

OPEC will still have lavish meetings and a nifty headquarters in Vienna, Austria, but the Saudis have made certain the the organization has lost its teeth. Even though the cartel argued that the sudden drop in crude was due to "oversupply", OPEC's most powerful member knows that the drop may only be temporary. Cold weather later this year could put pressure on prices. So could a decision by Russia that it wants to "punish" the U.S. and European Union for a time. That political battle is only at its beginning.

The downward pressure on oil got a second hand. Brazil has confirmed another huge oil deposit to add to one it discovered off-shore earlier this year. The first field uncovered by Petrobras has the promise of being one of the largest in the world. The breadth of that deposit has now expanded.

OPEC needs the Saudis to have any credibility in terms of pricing, supply, and the ongoing success of its bully pulpit. By failing to keep its most critical member, it forfeits its leverage.

OPEC has made no announcement about any possibility of dissolving, but the process is already over.

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Op vrijdag 12 september 2008 10:17 schreef simmu het volgende:
hmmmmm.... wat moet ik hiervan brouwen. het reguliere nieuws meld niks, en ik heb ff geen uurtje de tijd om het helemaal na te gaan. (als ik kijk in de afgrond van de wieg staart de baby terug die wil eten!)
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bron

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Crisisoverleg zakenbank Lehman Brothers
De afgelopen dagen verloor Lehman Brothers op de effectenbeurs het grootste deel van zijn waarde. De Fed, de centrale bank van New York, heeft vannacht crisisoverleg gevoerd over de zakenbank Lehman Brothers. Daarbij waren waarschijnlijk ook potentiële kopers aanwezig. De vierde Amerikaanse zakenbank dreigt om te vallen doordat ze miljarden heeft verloren door de hypotheek- en kredietcrisis. De afgelopen dagen verloor Lehman Brothers op de effectenbeurs meer dan driekwart van zijn waarde.

Domino-effect
Bij het crisisoverleg van vannacht waren verschillende grote banken aanwezig die mogelijk geïnteresseerd zijn in een gehele overname van Lehman Brothers of van delen van de bank. De Fed is bang voor een domino-effect als er geen koper wordt gevonden voor de bank. Lehman Brothers is een van de oudste zakenbanken van de Verenigde Staten. De bank werd groot in de 19e eeuw, toen ze de katoenteelt en de spoorwegbouw financierde.

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Op zaterdag 13 september 2008 16:14 schreef Aether het volgende:

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Op zaterdag 13 september 2008 16:18 schreef Drugshond het volgende:

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En over een maand kunnen we Washington Mutual bijschrijven in dit beruchte lijstje.

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Op zaterdag 13 september 2008 16:25 schreef Swetsenegger het volgende:
Hoe is het nu mogelijk dat de dollar tov de Euro opeens weer zo uit het slop is gekropen?

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Op zaterdag 13 september 2008 18:45 schreef JZweeds het volgende:

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En tussendoor nog eventjes AIG en Merill

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Lehman Deal Could Come Tonight As High-Level Talks Continue

Talks continued Saturday between federal officials and top Wall Street executives aimed at resolving the crisis swirling around Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and soothing jittery U.S. financial markets.

While the situation remains fluid, some sort of solution might be reached as soon as Saturday night, according to people familiar with the situation. But it isn't clear how much progress has been made toward clearing the biggest hurdle in the discussions, which is whether any government funding will be provided to help engineer a rescue for the battered investment bank.

Treasury Department and Federal Reserve officials have made it clear to participants that no government bailout should be expected. Potential bidders, worried about the risk of buying an ailing financial institution like Lehman, want the government to step in with a package similar to what was offered to J.P. Morgan when it bought Bear Stearns Cos. Then, the federal government agreed to absorb as much as $29 billion in losses.

On Saturday, the main task ahead in discussions being led by the Federal Reserve is identifying whether a so-called "bad bank" structure could be designed to hold Lehman's souring assets. That issue is now seen by people familiar with the situation as the key stumbling block to completing a deal, especially if Treasury and Fed officials keep digging in their heels on opposition to a government-backed rescue.

Potential buyers such as Bank of America Corp. and Barclays PLC are loathe to take on Lehman's bad assets, which are seen as an immovable object to getting a deal done, according to people familiar with the situation.

At an emergency meeting Friday night called by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, described two potential scenarios: either a liquidation of Lehman or an industry-driven solution in which Wall Street firms would possibly providing financing to remove some of Lehman's real estate assets, one person briefed on the matter said.

Most of the Wall Street executives present at the meeting listened and asked questions, "but didn't show their hands" as to what they thought, this person said.

In addition to Mr. Geithner, government officials in attendance included Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox. The Wall Street executives included Morgan Stanley Chief Executive John Mack, Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain, J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs Group CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Citigroup Inc. head Vikram Pandit and representatives from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Other industry leaders that attended were Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan, Morgan Stanley Chief Financial Officer Colm Kelleher, Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden, UBS AG Chief Risk Officer Thomas Daula, J.P. Morgan investment bank co-head Steve Black and Goldman Sachs Co-president Gary Cohn, according to a person familiar with the matter.

At the New York Fed's fortress-like stone and iron headquarters in lower Manhattan, Mr. Black and Steve Cutler, J.P. Morgan's general counsel, left the building early Saturday afternoon in a black sedan.

Mr. Cutler was carrying a manila envelope thick with papers. He exited through the heavily guarded garage entrance at the corner of William Street and Maiden Lane, declining to comment on the talks.

The meeting appeared similar to one a decade ago when the New York Fed pulled together top Wall Street executives to prevent the collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management.

In all, about 30 banks were represented at the meeting, which also included an assessment of the risk Lehman's trading partners and other counterparties face and discussion of Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual Inc., which saw their stock prices slide in recent days on growing fears about their financial condition.

In trying to hold firm to their no-bailout stance even while pressing for a deal, federal officials could try to pit Bank of America and Barclays against each other. But that leverage can work only if both banks stay in the discussions.

Bank of America and Barclays know each other very well, having considered a merger several years ago. More recently, Bank of America agreed to pay $21 billion for ABN Amro Holding NV's LaSalle Bank of Chicago in 2007. That deal came at a time when Barclays was trying to buy ABN and fend off a European consortium bid. Bank of America's purchase was seen at the time as helping that Barclays bid, which ultimately failed.

At Barclays, a big question will be whether President Robert E. Diamond Jr. and CEO John Varley both agree on buying all or part of Lehman. Mr. Diamond is eager to expand Barclays's U.S. Investment bank operations. But the unit, called Barclays Capital, is also responsible for write-downs the bank has recorded.

After orchestrating the rescue of Bear and advising on the shift of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into government conservatorship, Federal Reserve officials would very much like to draw a line with Lehman and avoid any involvement that goes beyond the role officials have played in advising Lehman to help it resolve its problems.

After Bear's collapse, the Fed set up lending facilities to help investment banks with short-term liquidity needs. As of Wednesday, it hadn't been tapped by Wall Street since July. The mere presence of the lending program – called the primary dealer credit facility - might be helping to reassure market participants that Lehman is a reliable counterparty, since they know it has access to the facility should it need it. It isn't clear whether the Fed would be willing to extend its lending facilities even further for anything beyond helping a firm manage a short-term liquidity crisis.

"The financing that we did for Bear Stearns is a one-time event that has never happened before, and I hope it never happens again," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers in April.

"As far as I know, we've never lost a cent. So it is not our intention on anything like a regular basis to be putting taxpayer money at risk."

Mr. Bernanke also has expressed reservations about lending to troubled institutions. "The intended purpose of Federal Reserve lending is to provide liquidity to sound institutions," he said in a July 8 speech. The Fed used its lending powers to help Bear in March "only because no other tools were available to the Federal Reserve or any other government body for ensuring an orderly liquidation in a fragile market environment."

Paramount to Fed officials is the broader health of the financial system. Behind the rescue of Bear was a fear that its collapse would disrupt already shaky credit markets.

Conditions now are mixed. Short-term lending rates such as the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, are elevated relative to expectations for the Fed's benchmark fed funds rate, a sign of pervasive risk aversion, but have been stable. Risk premiums on junk bonds also are back to levels they hit in March. But the broader stock market has been relatively stable through this latest round of turmoil.

One constraint for federal officials is that many of the steps they hoped to have taken to resolve another investment bank crisis have not yet been taken. Investment banks are big players in the credit default swap market, in which firms trade contracts tied to corporate default risks. It's an immense market that trades against $62 trillion worth of debt. Officials worry that the collapse of an investment bank could send problems cascading through the financial system through this market. They've been pushing Wall Street to create a new clearinghouse to diminish that risk, but it isn't in place yet.

They've also want Congress to develop new procedures to handle the collapse of an investment bank so that it can be closed by the government in an orderly way, as happens with failed commercial banks. That also is far from completion.

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Op zaterdag 13 september 2008 21:08 schreef SeLang het volgende:
Ik ben echt heel benieuwd wat eruit komt dit weekend. Gaat Paulson echt weigeren om nog meer belastinggeld in deze bodemloze put te gooien of laten ze nu eindelijk de vrije markt z'n werk doen.

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Als blijkt dat er geen bailouts meer plaatsvinden dan moeten bankaandelen verder omlaag.

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Op zaterdag 13 september 2008 21:10 schreef ItaloDancer het volgende:

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Die twee opties komen op hetzelfde neer

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Op zaterdag 13 september 2008 21:08 schreef SeLang het volgende:
Als blijkt dat er geen bailouts meer plaatsvinden dan moeten bankaandelen verder omlaag.

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No Deal Reached Yet to Decide Lehman's Fate

The outlines of plans to determine the fate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. emerged today even as it became increasingly clear that a clean sale of the entire firm to a big bank would be too difficult to execute.

A sense of optimism that a rescue could be arranged today dimmed as a growing sense of gloom descended on Wall Street. Executives from top banks in the U.S. and Europe huddled with federal regulators in an attempt to come up with plans to either buy pieces of Lehman or prepare for an orderly winding down of the firm in a manner that would minimize the collateral damage for the ailing global financial system.

After 6 p.m., the formal meeting ended for the day with no resolution, though some participants stayed behind to continue talking. "Senior representatives of major financial institutions reconvened on Saturday with U.S. officials at the New York Fed. Discussions are expected to continue tomorrow," said a spokeswoman for the Federal Reserve.

At about 8 p.m., New York Fed President Timothy Geithner was still at the bank's headquarters. Officials from the New York Fed and various banks were expected to continue working through the night.

Under one plan, either Barclays PLC or Bank of America Corp. would buy Lehman's "good assets", such as its equities business, people familiar with the matter say. Lehman's more toxic, real-estate assets would be ring-fenced into a "bad" bank that would contain about $85 billion in souring assets. Other Wall Street firms would try to inject some capital into the bad bank to keep it afloat for a period of time so that a flood of bad assets don't deluge the market, damaging the value of similar assets held by other banks and insurers. The banks are also looking for the government to somehow financially backstop the bad bank.

The problem, though, is getting enough banks to back that plan. While teams of bankers are working through structures, it's clear that only a handful of banks are in a position to provide enough funding. Many banks are inclined to preserve capital ahead of third-quarter and year-end cash preservation moves. Also, banks aren't keen to see a big rival such as Barclays or Bank of America walk away with valuable assets by only paying a pittance.

As of Saturday afternoon, Barclays, the U.K.'s third-largest bank in terms of market value, appeared to have more interest in pulling off a deal for Lehman's good assets. At about 3 p.m. on Saturday, Barclays President Robert E. Diamond Jr. was seen entering the New York Fed's employee entrance on Maiden Lane, carrying a briefcase.

Bank of America, an obvious buyer, appeared to be cooling toward a deal, people familiar with the matter. Of course, some of this could be the posturing that happens in any auction. Neither Barclays nor Bank of America wants to buy all of Lehman without some government assistance, and so far the government has been reluctant to do so.

Both Bank of America and Barclays remain fixated on the disposal of the bad real estate assets, and are less focused on evaluating Lehman's investment bank, said one person involved in the due diligence process. Things were moving so quickly Saturday that there was little time to do extensive employee interviewing that typically happens in company auctions. "It's all triage," said this person.

The real fear in the discussions, this person added, was that the fire-sale prices, or "marks" of Lehman's real estate book could set off a cascade of problems for other Wall Street firms. If those marks were made against other banks' portfolios, it could eventually force those firms to raise more capital, too. For firms' considering funding the bad bank, the calculation has thus become the price of that contribution against the price of a widescale markdown.

There could be further effects to such an event, with the banks calling in loans from hedge funds and other clients, in turn setting off more forced selling that further depresses asset and securities prices.

"Unless something is settled, it's going to be a bloodbath Monday," said this person.

In a meeting at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in lower Manhattan, some participants also were discussing insurer American International Group Inc. and thrift-holding company Washington Mutual Inc. While those two financial firms aren't the focus of the emergency meeting, participants also are weighing the potential implications of their problems.

One person leaving the building said at least 100 people were gathered inside trying to settle the fate of Lehman, which has been staggered by its exposure to soured real-estate-related assets. By 5:15 pm, some Wall Street executives started to leave the New York Fed one at a time, getting in their cars inside a garage so they can't have their photos snapped.

Outside the Fed's downtown headquarters, a fleet of black towncars waited for bankers who were inside. At one point, the towncars blocked the narrow streets around the building, causing a traffic jam that had to be broken up by the Fed's uniformed guards. Meanwhile, bankers and Fed staffers milled around outside, smoking cigarettes and talking on their cell phones about subjects like counterparty risk.

"Everybody is hoping there will be a Wall Street solution to deal with Lehman's toxic assets," said one senior executive at a major bank. "It is a cheaper alternative than having everything unravel."

With it unclear whether the gap between the federal government and potential buyers can be bridged, a second group at the New York Fed is focusing on the possibility that there might be no alternative to liquidating Lehman and winding down its operations in an orderly fashion.

On Saturday afternoon, the credit-trading heads of major investment banks gathered at the meeting to discuss how to deal with their exposures to Lehman in the intertwined credit-default-swap market. The lack of a central clearinghouse in this market means that dealers, hedge funds and others are directly facing each other in insurance-like contracts that are tied to trillions of dollars in debt instruments.

Credit derivative traders at some firms were asked to come to work over the weekend to help quantify their exposures to Lehman and compile lists of outstanding contracts they have with the investment bank.

One person familiar with the matter said large dealers contemplated showing each other all of their credit default swap trades with Lehman. Disclosing their positions may enable dealers to find ways to offset their positions with each other wherever possible. Later in the day, some traders were told that Lehman -- with the help of Federal Reserve officials -- will try to figure out which of its counterparties have CDS trades that can be offset. Those counterparties would be informed of the offsetting positions, following which they can unwind their respective swaps with Lehman and concurrently enter into new swap contracts with each other. For example, if one dealer has bought a swap from Lehman and Lehman sold a similar swap to another bank, the two banks could agree to face each other directly.

Such moves could help prevent individual firms from scrambling to find new counterparties to rehedge their positions with when the markets reopen on Monday, potentially unleashing turmoil across the credit markets. They could also help facilitate an orderly wind-down of Lehman's derivative positions, if that becomes necessary. Still, sorting out the firm's CDS positions promises to be a difficult and time-consuming task, because many of the contracts have different terms and maturity dates.

It is not known how much in CDS contracts Lehman has. In a survey last year by Fitch Ratings, Lehman was listed among the 10 largest CDS counterparties by number of trades and the amount of debt to which the contracts were tied.

Wall Street traders poured into their offices Saturday for emergency meetings to consider the actions they would take if Lehman is forced into liquidation. They broke into teams to evaluate their positions and exposure to Lehman in everything from energy trades to equity derivatives to credit,

One trader said conditions in the credit default swap market and the short-term repo markets are more stable today than they were in March, when Bear Stearns nearly collapsed, but still, "if they go into liquidation," it is going to be a bad situation on Monday.

A disorderly unwind of Lehman's derivatives trades is only one worry. Another worry is that if Lehman collapses, its distressed assets -- such as commercial real estate -- could suddenly hit Wall Street for sale, forcing prices even lower and potentially forcing other dealers to mark down once again the value of their own holdings.

Lehman has hired law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP to prepare a potential bankruptcy filing, according to a person familiar with the situation. The New York-based Weil has a leading bankruptcy practice and advised Drexel Burnham Lambert on its 1990 bankruptcy filing.

In a Lehman bankruptcy, the firm's brokerage units would have to enter a Chapter 7 liquidation, in which a court-appointed trustee would take over, liquidate the firm's assets and get Lehman customers back their money. In general, securities that a customer holds at a brokerage firm are legally the investor's property and aren't exposed to the claims of the firm's creditors.

In trying to hold firm to their no-bailout stance even while pressing for a deal, federal officials could try to pit Bank of America and Barclays against each other. But that leverage can work only if both banks stay in the discussions.

Bank of America and Barclays know each other very well, having considered a merger several years ago. More recently, Bank of America agreed to pay $21 billion for ABN Amro Holding NV's LaSalle Bank of Chicago in 2007. That deal came at a time when Barclays was trying to buy ABN and fend off a European consortium bid. Bank of America's purchase was seen at the time as helping that Barclays bid, which ultimately failed.

At Barclays, a big question will be whether CEO John Varley and his No. 2, Mr. Diamond, both agree on buying all or part of Lehman. Mr. Diamond is eager to expand Barclays's U.S. investment bank operations. But the unit, called Barclays Capital, is also responsible for write-downs the bank has recorded.

After 5 p.m., bank executives began leaving the meeting, some getting into cars inside a garage where they couldn't be photographed. Those seen leaving included Merrill Lynch & Co. Chairman and Executive John Thain and Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Chairman and CEO Robert Kelly declined to comment.

While some executives had left the Fed meeting, those of other firms, including three carfuls of Barclays executives, remained at the Fed office past 6 p.m.

At least 20 New York Fed staffers left from another exit. They refused to say if they were done for the night.

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 12:54 schreef Mr.J het volgende:
Niet zo negatief, 't zal allemaal wel op 't laatste moment goedkomen.

quote:

En anders maar weer middelen maandag.

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Crisisberaad redding Lehman
14 09 08 - 13:58
Het is buigen of barsten voor Lehman Brothers. Crisisberaad over de toekomst van de zakenbank wordt zondag voortgezet. Mogelijk wordt Lehman in delen verkocht. Een faillissement kan volgende week een kettingreactie in gang zetten.

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Fed, Street Draft Deal To Buy Lehman's Bad Assets

A deal has been drafted to buy Lehman Brothers' bad assets and clear the way for an eventual sale of the troubled firm, CNBC has learned.

Under the terms of the proposal, which could still blow up, all the major Wall Street firms would pitch in $30 billion total to purchase Lehman's bad real estate assets and create what's knows as a "bad bank."

The proposal is being drafted Saturday night and will be discussed Sunday morning, according to sources close to CNBC. If Wall Street agrees on the terms, which would amount to around $3 billion per firm, it would clear the way for the sale of Lehman Brothers itself to one of several suitors, including Bank of America, Barclays Plc and HSBC.

Executives remained less than pleased with the proposal as they left the New York Federal Reserve around 6 p.m. to convene again Sunday morning. Contingency planning for no deal getting done, potential bankruptcy and defaults continues as Lehman continues its search for a buyer.

"Why should we give up capital so Barclays and Bank of America can buy a clean bank," said one Wall Street executive.

Despite the grumbling, those in the know expect the deal to get done Sunday, with Barclays in the lead to buy the rest of Lehman, including Neuberger. No price has been set just yet.

One Wall Street executive involved in the meetings put it this way: "I'm thinking logically; if they do nothing it's Armageddon. That means they do a deal. It will be announced at 6 p.m. (ET) Sunday."

Most people think the deal will come together sometime between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET Sunday, though the structure is fluid, so the deal could change.

Barclays, along with Bank of America, HSBC and private equity firms have all expressed interest in purchasing Lehman Brothers, though far below the $70 share price that Lehman enjoyed earlier in the year.

Executives from these outfits have met with company officials who began to shop the firm after it became clear that a recent plan to add more capital wouldn't be enough to strengthen the firm, which holds around $40 billion in bad real estate assets on its books.

But with firms like Bank of America and Barclays refusing — at least so far — to budge on their position that they will only buy Lehman without the beaten down real estate assets, and the street balking on the government plan, which calls on the big firms to chip in a total of around $3 billion to purchase the Lehman assets, people with direct knowledge of the meeting say a deal may not get done.

Another problem: officials from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury were holding fast to their position that the government won't guarantee any of Lehman's bad assets, as they did with Bear Stearns, a move that allowed JP Morgan to purchased that troubled brokerage firm in March.

But the Fed's stance might soon soften — as might the position of Wall Street — because the consequences are so dire.

Without a deal, many market analysts predict Lehman will have to file for bankruptcy. Already, there is a near uprising at the firm. Top executives are saying they won't show up to work on Monday. It's unclear if other firms on the Street will continue to trade with Lehman and if Lehman can get loans from major financial players to fund its operations.

Making matters worse, if Lehman does file for bankruptcy, top Wall Street executives involved in the meetings with government officials say they fear another financial firm may be next. All eyes have been on Merrill Lynch, which, despite a recent plan to strengthen its balance sheet, still has exposure to bad assets.

Merrill, of course, is much more diversified firm than Lehman. It has the largest brokerage salesforce of any Wall Street firm, and a major investment in money management powerhouse, Blackrock.

Merrill recently raised billions of dollars in new capital, in part by selling its interest in Bloomberg LP, and it sold much of its bad debt to outside buyers in a complex plan that forced the firm to take a huge writedown.

But Merrill may not be out of the woods just yet. The firm still has some exposure to bad real estate, and short sellers may soon be targeting its stock, which has tanked in recent days, though top executives on Wall Street say Merrill could easily find a buyer such as a large bank because of the strength of its businesses.

quote:

We Have Reached A Deal For Lehman, Sources Say
Posted by John Carney, Sep 14, 2008, 2:43am
We understand that a deal has been reached to divide Lehman Brothers into two entities, with a "bad bank" taking the toxic, real-estate assets amounting to around $85 billion. The deal will be financed without any government backing. Lehman chief executive Dick Fuld will resign.

Bank of America will take the lion's share of the good assets of Lehman, with Barclay's and Nomura playing a role as well. An international consortium of financial firms will inject capital for the deal, preventing Lehman's assets from flooding the market in a fire sale. Many US based firms have not played a large role, in part because they are facing their own financial challenges.

Dick Fuld's resignation was demanded by Bank of America, which played a brinkmanship role in negotiations, threating to let Asian markets open tomorrow without a deal in place, a person familiar with the matter says. Many believe that a Monday market opening without a resolution would effectively have been the end of Lehman Brothers and could have spread financial turbulence to other securities firms. (On a side note: apparently, Japanese markets will be closed Monday morning for a holiday.)

Fuld is said to have taken tonight's developments very badly. He does not believe that the situation is as desperate as others on Wall Street believe it is, and may be trying to negotiate an alternative deal, we're told.

Of course, the situation remains fluid and there is still a possibility that the deal reached tonight could fall apart. Many of the details remain to be worked out, although there is widespread agreement on the outline of this deal.

quote:

Website says BofA will lead Lehman buyout
Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:13am EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A financial website said a deal has been reached to split beleaguered Lehman Brothers into two entities, with a "bad bank" taking the toxic, real-estate assets amounting to around $85 billion and Bank of America taking the lion's share of the good assets.

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 15:58 schreef ItaloDancer het volgende:
85 miljard zonder government backing?? Dat geloof ik eerlijk gezegd gewoon echt niet. Daar moeten allerlei voordeeltjes bij zitten die de Amerikaanse belastingbetaler veel geld kosten maar die in kleine lettertjes op pagina 439 van de overeenkomst gedrukt zijn.

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UBS to take $5 bln 2nd-half write-down: report
Last update: 7:48 a.m. EDT Sept. 14, 2008

UBS will have to write down the value of certain investments by another $5 billion in the second half but was unlikely to raise more capital, a Swiss newspaper said, according to Reuters.
The Swiss investment-banking giant will need to take another $5 billion of write-downs on mortgage securities and other investments, Sonntags Zeitung reported. Reuters said that the paper didn't cite sources for its information and that UBS declined comment on the report.
As of the middle of last month, UBS had written down $42 billion since the start of the credit crisis.

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 16:22 schreef ItaloDancer het volgende:
Bloomberg en Dow Jones (Wall Street Journal / MarketWatch) zitten er bovenop en melden Barclays dus als voornaamste kandidaat om Lehman (minus afval) over te nemen... en dat de deal nog zeker niet rond is. Laat staan dat we weten wat de overheid / Fed precies inbrengen.
Wat niet per se wil zeggen dat zij betere bronnen hebben natuurlijk, maar deze deal geloof ik niet...

quote:

Fed, Street Draft Deal To Buy Lehman's Bad Assets
LEHMAN AIG, MORGAN STANLEY, JPMORGAN, PAULSON
By Charlie GasparinoOn-Air Editor
CNBC.com
| 13 Sep 2008 | 06:58 PM ET
A deal has been drafted to buy Lehman Brothers' bad assets and clear the way for an eventual sale of the troubled firm, CNBC has learned.

Under the terms of the proposal, which could still blow up, all the major Wall Street firms would pitch in $30 billion total to purchase Lehman's bad real estate assets and create what's knows as a "bad bank."

The proposal is being drafted Saturday night and will be discussed Sunday morning, according to sources close to CNBC. If Wall Street agrees on the terms, which would amount to around $3 billion per firm, it would clear the way for the sale of Lehman Brothers itself to one of several suitors, including Bank of America, Barclays Plc and HSBC.

Executives remained less than pleased with the proposal as they left the New York Federal Reserve around 6 p.m. to convene again Sunday morning. Contingency planning for no deal getting done, potential bankruptcy and defaults continues as Lehman continues its search for a buyer.

"Why should we give up capital so Barclays and Bank of America can buy a clean bank," said one Wall Street executive.

Despite the grumbling, those in the know expect the deal to get done Sunday, with Barclays in the lead to buy the rest of Lehman, including Neuberger. No price has been set just yet.

One Wall Street executive involved in the meetings put it this way: "I'm thinking logically; if they do nothing it's Armageddon. That means they do a deal. It will be announced at 6 p.m. (ET) Sunday."

Most people think the deal will come together sometime between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET Sunday, though the structure is fluid, so the deal could change.

Barclays, along with Bank of America, HSBC and private equity firms have all expressed interest in purchasing Lehman Brothers, though far below the $70 share price that Lehman enjoyed earlier in the year.

Executives from these outfits have met with company officials who began to shop the firm after it became clear that a recent plan to add more capital wouldn't be enough to strengthen the firm, which holds around $40 billion in bad real estate assets on its books.

But with firms like Bank of America and Barclays refusing — at least so far — to budge on their position that they will only buy Lehman without the beaten down real estate assets, and the street balking on the government plan, which calls on the big firms to chip in a total of around $3 billion to purchase the Lehman assets, people with direct knowledge of the meeting say a deal may not get done.

Cramer: What Banks You Should BuyAre There Any Good Financial Stocks?

Another problem: officials from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury were holding fast to their position that the government won't guarantee any of Lehman's bad assets, as they did with Bear Stearns, a move that allowed JP Morgan to purchased that troubled brokerage firm in March.

But the Fed's stance might soon soften — as might the position of Wall Street — because the consequences are so dire.

Without a deal, many market analysts predict Lehman will have to file for bankruptcy. Already, there is a near uprising at the firm. Top executives are saying they won't show up to work on Monday. It's unclear if other firms on the Street will continue to trade with Lehman and if Lehman can get loans from major financial players to fund its operations.

Making matters worse, if Lehman does file for bankruptcy, top Wall Street executives involved in the meetings with government officials say they fear another financial firm may be next. All eyes have been on Merrill Lynch, which, despite a recent plan to strengthen its balance sheet, still has exposure to bad assets.

Merrill, of course, is much more diversified firm than Lehman. It has the largest brokerage salesforce of any Wall Street firm, and a major investment in money management powerhouse, Blackrock.

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 17:32 schreef ItaloDancer het volgende:
Ik ga ervan uit dat met een beetje water bij de wijn van zowel de overheid als de banken toch voor de opening van de Aziatische beurzen een overeenkomst zal worden bereikt.

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Battered insurer AIG’s $20bn asset sale
Dominic Rushe in New York
AIG, the world’s largest insurer, is planning a $20 billion (£11 billion) asset sell-off as it fights to correct a record slump in its share price and braces for the impact of Hurricane Ike.

Details of the plans could come as early as tomorrow. On Friday the insurer appointed investment bank JP Morgan to work on a rescue plan after its shares fell a record 31% in a single day.

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The chicken game over Lehman
After propping up the financial system for more than a year, the government seems to be drawing the line - and for good reason.


NEW YORK (Fortune) -- A crew of top federal officials has spent the past year racing from one fire to the next in a harried effort to smother financial blazes that keep inflaming the markets and threatening the rest of the economy.

But after disgorging billions in taxpayer funds and effectively taking over three big companies, the emergency response team has apparently changed its tactics when it comes to Lehman Brothers (LEH, Fortune 500).

Just a week after they effectively nationalized mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), and six months after they financed a hasty takeover of Bear Stearns, the Federal Reserve and Treasury are delivering Wall Street a different message: you'll have to learn to save yourselves.

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 19:06 schreef HansAEX het volgende:
NYT NEWS ALERT: Barclays Says It Has Walked Away From Talks With Lehman

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Bank of the Year for Credit Derivatives: Lehman Brothers
02-10-2006

Lehman Brothers’ pioneering spirit has put the firm at the forefront of credit derivatives product design and market development. By continuing to foster that spirit, it has secured this year’s award.

In the past year, Lehman developed the first ever rated synthetic equity structure that enables traditional investors who need a rating to access cheap equity.

The structure takes advantage of the relative value of junior parts of the capital structure while providing protection to return against defaults. To date, $2bn of risk has been placed and the new issue pipeline is strong.

“With these kinds of products, we have made it easier for more traditional types of investors, such as money managers and insurance companies, to invest in the structured area for the first time,” says Lisa Watkinson, global head of structured credit business development at Lehman Brothers.

Lehman also pioneered the development of preferred credit default swaps, in which it has traded more than $8bn across more than 60 counterparties, and on which it has based a series of innovations. In September 2005, it introduced a new layer of the capital structure to the credit derivative index market with the launch of PDX, an index referenced to 40 issuers of preferred securities; it has broadened the investor base in the hybrid markets and created a homogenous and liquid pricing/hedging benchmark.

“The cornerstone of our business is the research platform,” says Ms Watkinson. “This enables Lehman Brothers to be prudent and conservative risk managers but innovative in our structuring. And this enables us to tap into new investor bases.”

The judges were particularly impressed with the way Lehman’s investment bankers work with clients to structure solutions. One client praised a complex and highly innovative transaction that Lehman undertook for his firm, in which it simultaneously had to raise capital efficient financing, structure a synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) and raise third-party assets under management.

In the coming year, Ms Watkinson believes that the continued application of CDO technology to synthetic assets will help to drive the market. “Loan-only derivatives will be a huge growth area for Lehman Brothers and the market,” she says. “Such products bring in new investors by allowing us to tap into an asset class that was previously not liquid enough.”

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 19:22 schreef HansAEX het volgende:
Of die man ook een parachutte meekrijgt moet nog blijken vanavond ;-)

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 19:59 schreef Billary het volgende:
Interessante dag morgen..

US heading for Depression?

quote:

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- A group of banks and brokers began preparing for a potential Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy filing today, addressing outstanding trades that the company has in over-the-counter derivatives markets.

Financial firms have started ``netting'' Lehman trades on credit, equity, interest-rate, foreign exchange, and commodity derivatives, according to a statement from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association e-mailed to Bloomberg News.

``ISDA confirms a netting trading session will take place between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. New York time for over-the-counter derivatives,'' the ISDA said. ``Trades are contingent on a bankruptcy filing at or before 11:59 p.m. New York time, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008. If there is no filing, the trades cease to exist.''

The announcement came after Barclays Plc, the U.K.'s third- biggest bank, said it abandoned talks to buy Lehman, contending it couldn't obtain guarantees to protect against potential losses at the U.S. securities firm.

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FACTBOX: Possible outcomes for Lehman Brothers

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission and a group of major banks were meeting on Sunday to determine the fate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Lehman, once the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank by market capitalization, has lost the confidence of investors as its balance sheet sags under the weight of more than $46 billion of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities.

Below are the options being considered for Lehman, according to people briefed on the matter and a restructuring expert:

A buyer steps in, with no government support. This is the preferred option for the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, which fear that supporting too many wobbly investment banks will encourage excessive risk taking.

Other major U.S. banks would likely agree to help finance Lehman's bad assets under this scenario. But working out who would finance how much would be difficult. Weaker banks have little capital to spare, while stronger banks would resist being penalized for playing the credit crisis well.

The lack of government support for Lehman could cause a painful and fast reassessment of credit risk in the U.S. financial system. Many banks and investors have been trading normally with investment banks, under the expectation that the U.S. government would support any that went out of business. If the government shows it is unwilling to provide support, other dealers could find themselves with little business, and perhaps even on the brink of bankruptcy.

A buyer steps in, with government support. The preferred option for major U.S. banks and prospective buyers, which believe they should not have to pay for Lehman's sins, but that Lehman's demise may create systemic risk.

In this scenario, the government would likely support Lehman's bad assets, much as it did when JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy Bear Stearns in March. In that deal, the government agreed to guarantee $29 billion of assets.

But the government would add to the risk on its balance sheet, after bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and supporting JPMorgan's purchase of Bear Stearns. The government's mounting exposure to bad assets may erode investor confidence in Treasuries and the dollar.

Nothing is resolved by Monday. Most major Asian markets are closed, but European and U.S. markets will likely panic. Dealers will likely try to rapidly unwind their positions with Lehman across many products, and accessing short-term financing through the repo markets will be difficult.

Lehman reported $42 billion of liquidity at its holding company as of the end of August, and can pledge additional assets to the Federal Reserve, but it is difficult for any financial company to survive if investors lack confidence in its ability to do so.

Lehman files for bankruptcy: When this would happen is not clear, but in the absence of a rescue plan, the 158-year old firm would likely have no other choice. Bankruptcy would allow the orderly sale of Lehman's assets. Lehman would want the process of preparing for bankruptcy and getting through the process to take as little time as possible, because the longer it takes, the lower the value of its franchise.

Going into the bankruptcy process with an already-developed plan for liquidating assets would make the most sense as it would ensure the company is in bankruptcy for as little time as possible.

There are two options that involve filing for bankruptcy with a plan in place: a "prepackaged bankruptcy," where creditors and equity holders have already approved the plan, and a "prenegotiated bankruptcy," where leading stakeholders have negotiated a plan but have not received approvals from the requisite number of creditors and equityholders.

Of those options, a prenegotiated bankruptcy may be preferable, because it requires less preparation time before filing for bankruptcy.

quote:

Bank of America, Merrill Lynch In Merger Talks

Bank of America and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. are in merger discussions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The talks come amid a Wall Street scramble to sort out a potential liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Bank of America had considered buying Lehman, but when those talks failed to result in a deal, BofA turned its attention to Merrill, which is considered a better fit for the bank.

Much remains uncertain and conditions were fluid.

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Op zondag 14 september 2008 22:27 schreef ItaloDancer het volgende:
En het laatste nieuws op NOS TT is "Open Monumentendag druk bezocht", niets over dit alles