Staff at Bear Stearns have lost more than $5.2bn (€3.4bn) on their holdings in the company after the beleaguered US investment bank was sold last night for the knock-down price of $2 a share to JP Morgan Chase. The sale price is 98.7% below where the shares were trading as recently as April last year.

By 14.14 GMT, Bear stock had fallen to $3.82 a share, a loss of 88% from Friday night's close. That is still above the $2 a share price being offered by JP Morgan, suggesting the possibility of a counter bid emerging.