Inside the near-fiasco at Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers deserves plaudits for its ability to pick its way through the recent rumor-laden minefield. It is not the next Bear Stearns, a reflection of good luck and good planning. Fortune offers an insightful look at how the bank prepared for a potential crisis. Starting a year ago, the firm worked "to reduce a technical but crucial funding measurement: its net repo liability. This is a measurement of the firm's liability in its book of overnight and short-term loans, or repurchase agreements." Lehman Brothers had a little less than $19.1 billion in net exposure, down from $24.5 billion a year earlier, the magazine notes. Bear Stearns' net rose to $74.5 billion from $31 billion.  

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