Countdown to Collapse
In a fast-paced series, Kate Kelly of The Wall Street Journal chronicles "The Fall of Bear Stearns." She provides a wealth of details, as in this passage:
The 40 top Bear Stearns Cos. executives listening to Alan Schwartz over lunch had spent the morning of March 13 watching the firm's stock plunge. Rumor on Wall Street had it Bear Stearns was strapped for cash.
The chief executive, surrounded by the comforting luster of wood paneling in a 12th-floor dining room, calmly assured his lieutenants that Bear Stearns would weather the storm.
"This," he said, "is a whole lot of noise."
Out in the audience, Michael Minikes wasn't so sure. The 65-year-old Bear Stearns veteran had spent much of that week fielding calls from worried clients. Some had yanked large sums from their Bear Stearns accounts. The worst news had come when Renaissance Technologies Corp., a major hedge fund and trading client, said it was shifting more than $5 billion to competitors.
"Do you have any idea what is going on?" Mr. Minikes asked, cutting off his boss. "Our cash is flying out the door. Our clients are leaving us."
It was the beginning of a frantic 72 hours that would bring the Wall Street firm to its knees and threaten the stability of the global financial system….
Kelly is a finalist in the 2008 Gerald Loeb Awards for her work on the Journal's "Mortgage Meltdown on Wall Street."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121184521826521301.html