Is Bear Stearns out of the woods? There is a lot of anxiety about the firm. Breakingviews.com speculates about whether the firm is a Solly, a Drexel or a Lehman. Let's hope it's a Lehman. The storied bank is doing what it can to calm jitters, starting with a letter to clients that includes some talking points, according to the AP. I guess for those who want to publicly defend the company. "Rest assured, Bear Stearns has seen challenging markets before and has the experience and expertise to serve you and us well," the letter said. Jimmy Cayne, around whom rumors are swirling, has been calling his fellow executives at other banks, to reassure them and keep the spigots open. He has also been in touch with major shareholders. To its credit, Bear was able to place $2.3 billion in bonds, but it had to offer junk-like rates to do so. Ouch! For the sake of comparison, Citigroup and Merrill also sold five-year notes but their premiums over Treasury notes were about half of what Bear was forced to pay.  

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