TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says denying liquidity concerns isn't enough. Bear needs mimic Lehman's Fuld and step in as a buyer to stem the talk.Guess it was only a matter of time before we started hearing about the liquidity problems.
Typical that they start with Bear (NYSE: BSC) (Cramer's Take), it being like the homebuilder who tipped it all off, the first broker that was crushed by a mortgage bet.
Of course the denials come quickly. It's a terrible thing to even have to deny. So much better to keep your mouth shut. But when your stock is being raided down precipitously and your book value of $84 can't be real because what the heck is your stock doing in the $70s, then there's no protection either.
In 1998 it happened to Lehman (NYSE: LEH) (Cramer's Take), and Lehman didn't bottom until Dick Fuld called everyone and his brother not with denials but with bids, as in $31 bid for 1 million Lehman.
And then another bid when he got hit. And another. And another.
Until people realized nothing was wrong and Fuld meant business.
Does Bear mean business? We'll find out not with denials of liquidity problems. We will find out if they pull a Dick Fuld, and stop talking and start buying.
Right now nobody has any money. If Bear is lending you money, you are frantically trying to find another source right now. You are panicked.
You have to be after what happened last week to Annaly (NYSE: NLY) (Cramer's Take), where the funding wasn't even pulled!
Yep, we are in the every-man-for-himself phase.
This phase quickly spreads beyond Bear.
Next up? The bank run phase.
The rubber is at last hitting the road.
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RELATED LINKS:
Debt Fears Weigh on Stocks
Fed to Add $140B in More Liquidity
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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer was long NLY.
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