The future of Bear Stearns?

Rarely has a Wall Street firm found itself engulfed in so much bad news. In the mind of Mr. Market, the saga of Bear Stearns is far from over. The stock has sunk to lows it has not experienced in years. It certainly is not as well diversified as the real big boys, like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. It is not evident at all that the firm's conference call on Friday did much to allay fears, neither did the sacking of Warren Specter. The company is trying to rally around Alan Schwartz (see next item). But with the stock at really depressed levels and no easy answer to the credit market woes that have bedeviled it, you have to think that perhaps the notion that it is a merger prospect will take hold again. There is talk that overseas firms have expressed interest in taking stakes. This rumor has cropped up from time to time. You might see it resurface yet again.   

For more: 
- here's an update  
- here's an article on the turmoil at Bear from Financial News Online