Are investors just in denial, or do the people bidding up Bear Stearns' stock know something?The building alone, they say, is worth $8 a share. Maybe all the copiers, BlackBerrys, and laptops could command a few bucks. Rip out the pipes, faucets, and elevator doors, and surely you could fetch top coin in this metals-crazed market.
Those are just some of the reasons, legit and otherwise, that shares of Bear Stearns (BSC) never did hit their now notorious $2-a-share, Fed-supervised "take under" price. Bear shares bottomed at just under $3 on Mar. 17 before they surged to as much as $8.50 on Mar. 18. Of course, this is all so much cold comfort to anyone who got in at $170 last year (or even $70 last week). Still, the fact that the stock is trading at triple its agreed-on buyout figure means 1) something is being lost in translation, 2) something else is afoot, or 3) the Wall Street arbitrageurs, who play spreads of a few nickels and dimes, must be having a collective aneurysm. Maybe all of the above.
What the mortgage-backed hell is going on?
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