investment houses
With markets on edge, Fed takes urgent action to calm investors
It aids a fire sale of Bear Stearns at $2 a share, cuts a key rate and broadens lending to investment houses. NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve took extraordinary steps Sunday to bolster investors' shaken confidence, opening a lending window to securities firms, slicing a key interest rate and backing with $30 billion in emergency funds the bargain-basement purchase of ailing Bear Stearns Cos. by rival JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Woes hitting Wall Street pocketbooks
As investment houses' stocks are hit by mounting debt woes, many fear that the good times may be over. NEW YORK — Until a few weeks ago, life on Wall Street was as good as it gets, with a nearly 5-year-old bull market, takeover deals galore, record profits and jaw-dropping bonuses. America's financial princes once again lived up to their image as Masters of the Universe.
