Bloomberg News reports that 10 of the biggest names in investment banking are blocking investors from getting their hands on their share of the $330 billion Auction Rate Securities (ARS) that they were told was as safe as a money market fund.

I first posted about this back in February and now it has 4,325 comments from people trying to get at their money. Bloomberg quotes one victim of frozen ARS syndrome: Franklin Biddar, a 65-year old real estate investor who can't get his $100,000. "I can't do anything," said Biddar, who was so eager to unlock his money that he was willing to accept 11 percent less than what he paid for the securities. "Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) got me into these securities that are supposed to be as safe as a money market, and now they won't get me out."

Here's a list of the banks involved in this money blocking operation and the volume of municipal ARSs they issued between 2001 and 2007:

MAJOR PAPERS:

• In part two of a series to help explain the reasons why The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) collapsed, the Wall Street Journal said that executives believed they were about to turn a corner, but fear and rumors sent lenders, trading partners and clients running.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that a host of factors could derail InBev NV from bidding for Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc (NYSE: BUD), including the cultural differences between the two, protests by politicians over foreign ownership of a U.S. company during an election year and possible unrest from Anheuser distributors and employees.
• Following the recent indictment of one of the bank's former senior executives, the Financial Times reported that UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) told members of its former private banking team not to travel to America. The restrictions suggest UBS is concerned investigations by the SEC may widen.

WEB SITES:

• The latest set of photos that supposedly show parts of Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) 3G iPhone, released by Dutch website iPhoneclub.nl, look identical to the previously released pictures that were supposedly photos of the 3G iPhone, Engadget reported.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Last December Chemtura Corporation (NYSE: CEM), a specialty chemicals company with a market cap of about $1.9B, said it might sell itself, and now The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) and Apollo Management are in talks to buy the company, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• In part one of a series to help explain the reasons why The Bear Stearns Companies (NYSE: BSC) collapsed, the Wall Street Journal said that the troubled firm was torn apart by executives who couldn't agree on what course to take, including raising capital and slicing mortgage and related bonds from its inventory. And each of about six attempts to raise capital fell part.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The American investor and Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) chief Warren Buffett said the United States is already in a recession that is deeper and will last longer than the public expects, the Economic Times reported.
• According to the Telegraph, Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) is planning to sell Barclays Life Assurance Company, its life assurance arm, which has over GBP7B of funds under management. Sources believe potential bidders for the unit may include Pearl, Swiss Reinsurance Company (OTC: SWCEY), General Re, Canada Life and XL Re. Market commentators believe that on an embedded value basis, the unit is currently valued at around GBP1B.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that at last, we're seeing signs that there's a game plan for dealing with the mess.

We are getting there. A few of us have been predicting that before we are through with this subprime ugliness, we will have seen $500 billion lost, and that the $40 billion so far is a pittance. That number has been so outside the realm that I think it gets dismissed for being too large. If it weren't for Mike Farrell at Annaly (NYSE: NLY) (Cramer's Take), I think that I wouldn't even bother to put my number out. He's doing the same math I am doing, though, looking at the number of homes bought in 2005-2007 -- 14 million -- and recognizing that 50% of them used "affordable" mortgages, meaning mortgages they couldn't afford.

Today, Mike Mayo, a mainstream analyst from Deutsche, uses a $400 billion figure. We need a mainstreamer to come out with that number, if only because that way we wont have a "I can't believe how big it is" reaction every time some bank discloses its losses. Mike's good at being a bear when a bear is called for, and he's playing his role perfectly. He helps us solve the puzzle that is how much Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) and Wachovia (NYSE: WB) (Cramer's Take) and HSBC (NYSE: HBC) (Cramer's Take) and Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) (Cramer's Take) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) (Cramer's Take) and Bear (NYSE: BSC) (Cramer's Take) and Lehman (NYSE: LEH) (Cramer's Take) and UBS (NYSE: UBS) (Cramer's Take) and Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) (Cramer's Take) and Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) (Cramer's Take) and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer's Take) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) (Cramer's Take) are really on the hook for.

Reuters is reporting this morning that British billionaire investor Joseph C. Lewis has been buying large amounts of Bear Stearns Companies (NYSE: BSC) stock. In the last few weeks, Lewis has taken a 7% stake in Bear Stearns, at a cost of $860 million. The purchases -- which were made through were made through Lewis-controlled investment entities named Aquarian, Cambria, Darcin, Mandarin and Nivon -- were disclosed today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As of 9:55 this morning, Bear Stearns shares are up $1.90 to $107.27.

According to Forbes, Joseph C. Lewis is the 486th richest person in the world, and the 17th richest person in the United Kingdom. His main investment company is the Tavistock Group, which invests in a little bit of everything, including real estate, manufacturing, financial services and sports clubs -- Lewis owns the famous Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur. Lewis started his financial empire by expanding his family's catering business, then moving into tourism and eventually currency trading.

Bear Stearns has been hit hard by the subprime mortgage fiasco, and its share price has fallen by a third from $150 just a few months ago. While Lewis has made no statements about his investment, it's safe to say that he thinks the shares are now oversold and due for a boost.