Rumors have swirled about the rapid collapse of Bear Stearns, with a lot of people -- even some normally credible commentators -- absolutely convinced that the company was a victim of a bear raid and naked short selling, and malicious rumor mongering that led to a run on the bank, sealing the bank's fate.

An interesting piece from Bloomberg discusses the suspicious options trading in the stock: on March 11th, someone bought $1.7 million worth of put options, effectively betting that shares of Bear Stearns would decline by nearly 50%. Bloomberg reports that "options specialists are convinced that the buyer, or buyers, made a concerted effort to drive the fifth-biggest U.S. securities firm out of business and, in the process, reap a profit of more than $270 million."

Interesting. But isn't it also possible that the puts were purchased by someone with insider information about the company's disastrous financial position? Must we assume that the only person who would be willing to bet big on Bear's collapse was a malicious short seller who was spreading rumors like Perez Hilton, working overtime to assure a run on the bank? It just seems a little melodramatic. It's not even James Bond -- more like Mack Bolan.

Before we feel to bad for Bear Stearns -- and record it in the history books as a victim of an outside invasion -- it's important to keep in mind what allowed rumor mongers to destroy it, if indeed they did: the company had no credibility, a result of its long insistence that everything was fine.

Bear Stearns was a company that treated its shareholders with scorn, never leveled on the company's true financial condition, and didn't even bother to disclose that its bridge-playing, allegedly marijuana-smoking CEO was seriously ill in the hospital while the credit crisis raged on.