This is the kind of news that will at least begin the process of a true bottom.  I’ve been talking about the cycle of greed and fear recently and the need for a big institution to go under.  Call it what you want but Bear Stearns being taken out for 2 bucks is a hair above bankruptcy.  I can’t imagine being a shareholder  in this.. directly or indirectly through a mutual fund.  You have a company trading at 55/share early Friday morning with a stock market value of nearly 7 billion.  JP Morgan (JPM) takes it out just 2 days later for 2/share just 2 days later, which values the company at a mere 236 million.  Amazing.

According to WSJ, JP Morgan is guaranteeing the trading obligations of Bear Stearns and its subsidiaries and is providing management oversight for its operations.  The WSJ also goes on to say that while some well known billionairre investors such as Joe Lewis and Bruce Sherman stand to lose a fortune, the hardest hit will be the rank and file Bear Stearn employees who hold a third of the shares in the company.  Enron anyone? 

Looks like the Fed is in the cutting move a bit early too.

After an initial surge, futures are down big.  S&P down 20, Dow down 142, Naz down 33.  It gets mighty interesting from here.