Lehman

Why did Lehman really fail? The equity window is effectively closed for most financial services companies. This fact was the true trigger for the meltdown in AIG and Lehman and the problems at WaMu, HBOS and Merrill Lynch. Moreover, it…

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, with assets of over $600 billion is the largest in U.S. history. Wikipedia has catalogued the list of the largest U.S. bankruptcies of all time. (Hat tip: Börsennotizbuch) Drum roll, please. The current…

Dick Fuld, the Chief Executive of the beleaguered and now bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers, finally addressed staff after the worlds largest bankruptcy in history. He told staff he felt horrible for their personal and financial…

Update 04 Mar 2009: Marshall Auerback sent me a story about Dresdner bankers suing to get tens of millons in bonuses. Obviously the house in Kent and the private clubs and schools have to be paid for. His story here reminded me of this…

It's been bothering me for some time -- the fact that Lehman failed and Merrill was taken out at a deal time value that was a significant premium to both book value and the prevailing price of its shares in the market. It seems rather…

It's done. Core Lehman is sold. Now the rest of the company can be liquidated. Barclays will buy the core assets for a measly $2 billion. For Lehman staff in the US, this has to be a relief. However, staff in London are probably left…

Update Mar 2009: There is a pernicious little piece of historical revisionism going around that the Lehman bankuptcy did not matter. I am reposting this as a retort. Note the piece by James Suriowiecki which induced me to re-post: In…

Don't think that it is just the U.S. that has to worry about systemic risk. The Europeans have their own problems and the weaker financial institutions are getting absolutely killed in European trading right now. RBS is down nearly 13%.…

Update: 815AM EDT: Unable to find buyers in around the clock talks, Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy protection. On Friday, it was learned that Lehman had hired bankruptcy attorneys. Now, the worst has come to pass: Lehman has…

In case you missed it, the financial system in the U.S. is near collapse. This weekend was unbelievable. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The world's largest insurer AIG is looking for the Fed to help it avoid collapse and Merrill…