Free Republic

After it was announced March 16 that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) was purchasing Bear Stearns Cos. (NYSE:BSC) for $2 a share, the stock plummeted over 80 percent at the open of trading on March 17. But, on March 11, Cramer told an e-mailer not to sell the beleaguered investment bank’s stock on his show’s Web site: “Dear Jim: Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there? --Peter Cramer says: “No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble. If anything, they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A new deal between Bear Stearns Cos. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. would change the dynamics of the marriage -- and not in a good way for the markets. Under a much-sweeter offer of $10 a share, according to media reports, J.P. Morgan shareholders will now be shelling out close to $1 billion for the all-but-failed investment bank. It is a stunning reversal, and casts doubt on how steadfast Jamie Dimon, J.P. Morgan's chief executive, is. See full story. The deal may be a bargain. Bear Stearns shareholders may be placated. New terms from the...

British billionaire Joseph Lewis made his fortune gambling on currencies. His recent investment in Bear Stearns Cos. has turned out to be a disastrous bet. The elusive septuagenarian is one the biggest losers from the New York investment bank's problems. In just a few months, he has paper losses of about $800 million on his roughly 9.6% stake in Bear, whose share price has cratered in recent days. A small cadre of investors, often considered some of the best in the business, own big stakes in Bear that aren't looking good.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bear Stearns Cos., one of the most venerable names on Wall Street, turned to a rival bank and the federal government for a last-minute bailout Friday to prevent it from collapsing. The Federal Reserve responded swiftly to pleas from Bear Stearns that its coffers had "significantly deteriorated" within a 24-hour period as rumors about the bank's situation fueled the Wall Street version of a run on the bank. Central bankers tapped a rarely used Depression-era provision to provide loans, and said they were ready to provide extra resources to combat an erosion of confidence in America's...

Firm takes heat for cons’ crimes Settled suits cost top-tier legal entity $30 million, with more pending By Janet Elliott Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau (10-21-01) Locke Liddell and Sapp is one of Texas’ premier law firms, having represented some of the state’s top corporations and individuals, including George W. Bush when he was governor and general partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. But it is two other former clients, convicted swindlers Russell Erxleben and Brian Stearns, who have brought unwanted attention to the 426-lawyer firm with offices in Houston and several other cities. In the past two years, Locke...

Texas Monthly November 2001 What happens when a top law firm gets two crooks for clients? At Locke, Liddell, and Sapp, the result was a $30 million settlement for angry investors. by John Spong LOCKE PURNELL ATTORNEY JANE MATHESON'S NOTE ON THE BACK OF A TRADE AGREEMENT her firm was editing for client Russell Erxleben in February 1998 got right to the point: "Tell the truth." Erxleben, an All-American punter and place kicker for the University of Texas Longhorns in the seventies, had enlisted the 110-year-old, blue-chip Dallas law firm to keep his company, Austin Forex Investments (AFI), from running...