2008.03.24

Market open:

Megérkeztem a locsolkodásból, ami egyben annyit is kjelent. hogy lemaradtam a nyitóról, ami továbbra is magyar idő szerint 14:30-kor kezdődik.

Az indexek hatalmas pluszban vannak, a Bear Stearns is óriásit ugrott felfelé, 110% (!) pluszban van, betölteni látszik az utóbbi idők hatalmas gap-ját.

A Bear Stearns ugrásának oka:

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Seeking to mollify angry shareholders and employees, JPMorgan Chase quintupled its offer for Bear Stearns to roughly $10 a share Monday.

The bank will also acquire 39.5% of Bear Stearns (BSC, Fortune 500) by scooping up 95 million newly issued shares in an effort to ensure the deal goes through, according to a statement issued just after the stock markets opened. This part of the deal is scheduled to be completed around April 8.

Bear Stearns shares were trading Monday morning at $11.50, up nearly 93%, while JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) shares were up 3.4% to $47.62.

The buyout's success was drawn into question last week after some large Bear Stearns shareholders mobilized against the buyout. The deal, which was negotiated over three days and announced the evening of March 16, initially valued the troubled investment bank at $2 a share, a 93% discount from its closing price on March 14.

Many Bear Stearns employees, who own about a third of the company, were furious that their stakes would be virtually wiped out. Billionaire Joseph Lewis, whose holdings include 8.35% of Bear Stearns, said in a federal filing last week that his investment funds would "take whatever action that they deem necessary and appropriate to protect the value of their investment."

Executives at both firms defended the modified terms.

"We believe the amended terms are fair to all sides and reflect the value and risks of the Bear Stearns franchise," Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, said in a statement.

"Our Board of Directors believes that the amended terms provide both significantly greater value to our shareholders, many of whom are Bear Stearns employees, and enhanced coverage and certainty for our customers, counterparties, and lenders," Alan Schwartz, Bear Stearns' chief executive, said in a statement.

"The substantial share issuance to JPMorgan Chase was a necessary condition to obtain the full set of amended terms, which in turn, were essential to maintaining Bear Stearns' financial stability," he added.

Also, under the new terms, JPMorgan will bear the risk of the first $1 billion of losses if any of Bear Stearns' assets go bad. The Federal Reserve will run the risk for the remaining $29 billion, instead of being on the hook for all of the first $30 billion in losses, as was originally announced March 16.

JPMorgan was first called March 14 to rescue Bear Stearns, which had suffered a classic run on the bank the day before.

Amid rumors questioning Bear Stearns' financial health, institutional customers had started demanding their funds and asking the bank to put up more collateral to back its borrowings. Bear Stearns turned to the Fed, which asked JPMorgan to funnel funds to the embattled investment bank that the goverment would provide.

Two days later, with the government fearing that Bear Stearns' unraveling would send widespread panic through the financial markets, JPMorgan agreed to purchase Bear Stearns."

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