JPMorgan Chase buys Bear Stearns

Racing against the clock, JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy once-mighty Bear Stearns for just $2 a share Sunday, “in a fire sale deal clearly aimed at stemming broader panic” in the global markets, according to Tom Petruno of The Los Angeles Times.

Bear Stearns stock, which closed at $30 a share Friday, traded at $158 last April. Petruno wrote that the total value of JPMorgan’s deal is about $240 million.
Hint: Click in map to explore connectionsStory continues below interactive map 

Click to activate the interactive map (requires Java)

A takeover had been rumored since Friday when Bear Stearns said its liquidity had significantly deteriorated. The Federal Reserve stepped in and negotiators raced to complete the deal Sunday, before Asian markets opened. They hoped to contain drastic declines when U.S. markets opened Monday.

Click here to sign up for the Muckety Newsletter

• Bear Stearns bid would mean $100M to Joe Lewis - March 24, 2008
• NY Fed bails out Bear Stearns - March 15, 2008
• Golf and cards consumed too much of Cayne’s final days at Bear Stearns - August 6, 2008
• Mortgage mess sinks Wall Street exec - August 6, 2007
• Cayne reported leaving CEO job at Bear Stearns - January 8, 2008
• Ex-Bear Stearns managers indicted on fraud in funds’ collapse - June 20, 2008
• The charity work of Bear Stearns’ Alan Schwartz - January 9, 2008
• Amidst Bear Stearns takeover, Greenberg and Cayne criticize each other - May 7, 2008
• Bear’s Cayne holds cards close to vest - November 1, 2007
• Cayne, Macklowe keep their condos at The Plaza - April 8, 2008