It has been all of two days since the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac bailout was announced, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 280 points and a general sense of doom hangs over the markets. And yet, Lehman Brothers is the centre of an anxiety show all of its own. Its shares fell 45% on news that Korea Development Bank wasnâÂÂt interested in a deal.
Then there are the three fears: coming third-quarter earnings, expected to be horrid; its exposure to risky real estate and mortgages, a market already plagued with uncertainty amid the government intervention at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and the threat that worried counterparties might avoid doing business with Lehman in a replay of what happened to Bear Stearns.
