Before the bell: Futures decline as Bear sold, Fed acts

Well, it isn't surprising that following the sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan, may of the financials are in focus this morning with investors, while hoping there will not be another Bear Stearns, also wanting to make sure they steer clear of any such possibility. With Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) often mentioned as having the closest problems to those that plauged Bear, its shares are seen plummeting nearly 27% in premarket trading to $28.69 after closing at $39.26 Friday. This is despite Moody's Investors Service affirming Monday its A1 rating on the senior long-term debt of Lehman. The broker is scheduled to report results Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), also scheduled to report results Tuesday, is expected to "announce asset writedowns worth about $3bn," according to the Telegraph. Goldman shares are dropping 8.8% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile in Europe, banks are falling as well. Swiss bank UBS (NYSE: UBS) declined over 11%, was one of the worst performers, down 11.1%, as was British mortgage lender HBOS. Royal Bank of Scotland declined 8.6% and Barclays (NYSE: BCS) was down 8.1%. This gives an indication at the very least of how some of these banks will do when U.S. markets open.