View from inside Bear Stearns

You really can't plan for something like this. For $2 a share, the top executives are outraged at CEO Alan Schwartz for letting this happen, notes the New York Times. Many employees remain in disbelief, stunned that the nation's fifth-largest investment bank went belly up so quickly; apparently, there was no meeting to inform them. Most assume they are laid off, and many trudged out of the building with their office belongings. It takes a certain grace to hold it together at a time like this. Financial News Online notes that employees and executives at the bank owned nearly 40 percent of the bank, which is high compared to other banks. Shares held on behalf of them were worth $2.7 billion not too long ago. Now they are worth $55 million.  

For more:
- here's the New York Times article
- here's the AP article
- here's the Financial News Online article

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