Yeah, that’s right. I’m about helpful as a blind man in a library, when it comes to this sort of stuff.
The Story: JPMorgan Acts to Buy Ailing Bear Stearns at Huge Discount (Via New York Times)
Bear Stearns, pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by what amounted to a run on the bank, agreed late Sunday to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for a mere $2 a share, narrowly averting a collapse that threatened to cascade through the financial system.
The price represents a startling 93 percent discount to Bear Stearns’ closing stock price on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Bankers and policy makers raced to complete the deal before financial markets in Asia opened on Monday, as fears grew that the financial panic could spread if Bear Stearns failed to find a buyer.
The deal, done at the behest of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, punctuates the stunning downfall of one of Wall Street’s biggest and most storied firms. Bear Stearns weathered the vagaries of the markets for 85 years, surviving the Depression and a dozen recessions only to meet its end in the rapidly unfolding credit crisis now afflicting the American economy.
My first reaction, when I saw this was, "Why should I even remotely give a rip?" However, it does show the full fall out of the sub-prime loan debacle that the Nation is dealing with, which isn’t helping the economy.
Yeah, from what I have read around the Blogs and from what I have seen on the T.V. we are headed into another Recession. Which is not a good thing. I guess it just means that the rest of the United States is catching up with Michigan.
Now, the nasty A-hole part of me, who kind of has a inbred hatred of people, who have more money that I do, thinks, "Ha Ha Guys! How’s it feel to lose everything and be broke, like I’ve been for the past couple of years??" But that’s a bit nasty and I try to avoid such thoughts.
I’m just hoping that this doesn’t trigger a mass sell off and a stock market crash, that would suck, because a full scale depression, is the LAST thing we need, right now.
Now, I’m not a capitalist freak, (You wouldn’t know it, by all the ads on my blog… *grin*) However, a certain amount of it, is acceptable, and a certain amount of it is needed to make the country work. So, I would hate to see the World’s Economy go to pot.
Anyway, that’s my take on it, from a Lower Middle class type of guy’s view.
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