The New York Post notes the most striking difference between Bear Stearns [0] and the real big boys of Wall Street: Bear's capital base of $13.3 billion must support $423 billion in assets, nearly half of which is asset-backed CDO-like entities. Goldman Sachs has a capital base of $38.4 billion supporting $384 billion in securities. Morgan Stanley's capital base of $39.5 billion supports $941 billion in assets. So it looks like Goldman Sachs is by far the best positioned in these troubled times, though shareholder equity can really plummet quickly. This is what troubles the ratings guys most. So rebuilding its base is a huge priority for Alan Schwartz and Jimmy Cayne, who has gotten his golf game back on track [1] at least. He's shooting in the 80's again, after blowing up during the crisis. Of course, he hasn't been able to play as much as usual.

For more:
- here's the article [2]
- chutzpah and Bear Stearns. Article [3]