MAJOR PAPERS:

• Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will today outline a new plan to better organize the overall bureaucracy that oversees financial markets, the Wall Street Journal reported. Paulson's new proposals include merging or eliminating all together institutions such as the SEC.
• According to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal also reported that Alphonso Jackson, the Housing and Urban Development secretary, is expected to today announce his resignation, a move which could deal a blow to the Bush administration's efforts to combat the crisis in the housing markets.
• The Financial Times reported that Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) may take its equity prime brokerage business off the market after receiving weak interest from potential bidders. People close to the situation emphasized that no final decision has been made on the unit.

• Bloomberg reported that Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) will set up an independent credit card unit, according to sources. The rest of the consumer division, mainly bank branches and non-bank lending, will be divided into five regional groups, according to the inside sources.

Readers of this space know that the investment thesis offered here favors large-cap companies with demonstrated business models and that have a competitive advantage in established markets, preferably with a favorable global trend as a support.

Still, every once in awhile an exception is made, in this case to get-ahead-of the-curve regarding a sector's recovery, and with the aforementioned in mind, Bear Stearns is worth an evaluation.

Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) is a leading investment banking, securities, and derivatives trading, clearance, and brokerage firm serving corporations governments, institutional, and individual investors worldwide.

Analysts expect Bear's prime brokerage and asset management businesses to continue to grow, along with adequate-to-good results from its trading division.

Further, there's a sense now among analysts that BSC's mortgage securities and leveraged loan commitments on its balance sheet have been sufficiently written down. That's not to say that there won't be more write-downs or an additional financial bump or two, but the worst appears to be over, at least for Bear.