The Bear Stearns "bail out" people refer to was not to save BSC at all. What was bailed out was the entire world financial market.

That is why the Fed acted so quickly and on a Sunday. It is also why JPM got a sweetheart deal because it had to be done fast and they were one of only a handful of firms that coud have signed on.

BSC had a run on the bank that exhausted its liquidity in a matter of days -- otherwise they might have weathered the storm.

If BSC was allowed to collapse other institutions would have seen similar activity and once it started no one knows how fast the financial markets could possibly collapse. It is all based on trust and the trust was degrading fast.

The Fed acted to inform the market that it was not going to let this happen. That is the only reason they took the actions they did.

Several members of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc leadership team sold off large amounts of their shares to the tune of “more than $20 million in December,” according to MarketWatch.com. This report is bound to raise questions of whether their selling of the company’s shares during a time when the firm was enduring financial stress was ethical. In addition, investors could raise concerns about their service on other corporate boards. The question of whether their service on other boards will come in for more scrutiny remains a question to be answered in the coming days.

If the Fed bailed out BSC, they should bail out the ARS, as the public is becoming very negative about the economy due to the liquitity problem that we are being faced with. These were supposed to be 7 day or 28 day auctions! The brokers never disclosed the true facts about these 7 day Munis!

BSC as an institution is not the same thing as a specific financial instrument like an ARS. However, the legal exposure of the culprits that underplayed the risk...

...now they should find good counsel.

Personally, I think this is outrageous.
Bear and Stearn made tons of money selling bad debt. Moreover, investment are the first one to balk at regulation and any type of socialist reform.

You speculate. You're wrong. You lose.

Bernanke should not have bailed them out just like homeowners who bought overpriced Miami condos should not.

There is no way the financial system can navigate this crisis without casualties. This is just a waste of money.

Hey, if you really want to get back at these bad companies, sell their stocks short, berate them on message boards, and pocket the income from covering when they are down. I sold C, MER, BSC and CFC short last September. I covered last Monday (3-17) on all of them, walking away with several hundred thousand dollars. Tee Hee. They and their dum "long" shareholders are all "greater suckers". I love seeing their stocks and spirits go down. Much farther to go, I think, but wanted to take my money off the table and just watch for fun. C is next to need a bailout.

I am not a financial professional. However, I do understand some very basic and simple financial facts, one of the most basic is "I can't pay my bills if I don't have the money and my credit cards are all maxed out". Our government doesn't have any "real" money and yet they were able to come up with $30 billion to bail BSC out. I do agree with the comments that Sheldon L wrote "....if BCS was allowed to fail etc...". The government can not allow BSC or any other really large financial institution to fail. Can you imagine what would happen if C failed. Talk about a run on the banks in the U.S. Failures of this maginitude would create a depression certain environment. The Feds won't let this happen. In the meantime we will live with increasing inflation and a very weak dollar. The bottom line right now is as long as my wife and I still have our jobs the recession (or god forbid depression) talk is not personal. If my wife or I lost our jobs or the side business we own tanked then the recession is a reality. If we both lost our jobs and our side business went south, ahhh, now there is a depression.

Isnt whats happening to Bear Sterns suppose to happen ...I mean before the Fed Bail Out...This is the Free market at its best really...When a company doesnt perform they get flushed out by the market place ...I recently heard that some of the top share holders were dumping stock back in 07 too....I am not a professional trader by anymeans ...but I believe I recall that one can track companys and see when major sells of shareholders stocks are happening...correct me if I am wrong...If I am right ...smart investors would have sold to...or at least had a heads up to look for sell signals and chart patterns to sell short right? just thinking out loud...

Hey Feds come bail me out of my debt please! I made some mistakes ..Im sorry !

Is the $30 billion taxpayer money in this deal going to be reduced by the $8 per share increase in the offer? I keep forgetting in the "free market," taxpayers only take the risk, not the reward.

My 93 year old Aunt got even with "the system". She knew her time was coming...so she maxed out all of her credit cards to the tune of several hundred thou. Since she had no assets, to speak of, she went out in a blaze of glory while leaving the cc companies holding the bag.

RIP Aunt Lib

My business isn't doing all that hot, bail me out.