12:04 BSC Bear Stearns: CNBC commentator discusses weakness in financials, saying speculation surrounds BSC (62.35 -7.59) -Update- Says one rumor is that BSC tried to shop their clearing operations a few weeks ago, which was a sign how badly they need cash, but they couldn't find a buyer.
How much has that currency trader from Bahamas lost since he invested in Bear last summer? I remember it being a pretty big stake. edit: Quick math says at least -$300m based on an 8 million shares when BSC was trading above 100. I don't know how close that is to accurate but it has to be a bundle right now.
Bear Stearns cleared for every scumbag outfit in the world, and now they can't even sell their clearing outfit. A few years back, Fiserv, in the biz at the time, took a 10mill hit. Said it was a one time w/o. I called them up and got #2. I said, "are you guys fucking nuts? Those are all fails and you've got a hundred of them. " Guy says, "oh great. Just what I need. another weekend at work." They pulled out of that business not long after that. What they did was, trying to get a toehold, signed up a bunch of lousy broker dealers who used their books as a burial ground. Now tell me. Why can't BSC, if CNBC's report is accurate, sell their clearing? Makes money. Right? The quicker these guys all sit down, open their books, get this over with, the quicker this will be over. Guess what? They won't. They'll have to be dragged to Paddy Wagons kicking and screaming. And it's coming. The system can't stand this on a daily basis.
Ugh i had a short position in Bsc vs Ms long up until late last week....went long the spread yesterday first time in months, great timing!