![]()
- Existing-Home Sales Jump to 2-1/2 Year High
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- US Job Losses to Bottom out Next Quarter: NABE
- Obama Jobs Forum May Be More Political Than Practical
- Late Payments on Credit Cards Drop in Third Quarter
- Suze Orman’s 'A Healthier, Wealthier You'
- Latest Holiday Drinks: The Madoff...and the TARPatini
- Madoff Trustee, Law Firm Submit $22.1 Million Bill
- JPMorgan's Dimon Could Succeed Geithner: Report
- Expect a 'Square Root-Shaped' Recovery: Chief Investor
- Madoff—The Holiday Drink
- HP to Feed on Enterprise Spending Next Year: Tech Analyst
- Busch: Markets Smell a Country Rat
- Schork Oil Outlook: Mission Impossible For The Bears?
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Losey: Asset Allocation At Retirement
- Farrell: Obama Hectored, Ignored and Restricted?
- Don't Dwell on Investment Mistakes; Move on, Like Buffett
MOST SHARED
- Existing-Home Sales Jump To Highest Level in 2-1/2 Years
- Wall Street Finds Profits by Reducing Mortgages
- Start-Up Proves Everything Really Is Better With Bacon
- CNBC VIDEO: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates 'Walk & Talk' at Columbia University
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Cadbury Hits New High as Bidders Circle
- China Asks Its Banks to Slow Down
Barclays Bank has about $300 million of the riskiest assets within two troubled hedge funds at Bear Stearns that have other banks either freezing assets in the funds or unwinding their positions in order to cut potential losses, CNBC's Charlie Gasparino reported.
Citing traders close to the situation, Gasparino described the Barclays [BCS
Loading...
()
] assets as "radioactive stuff" that would be "next to impossible to auction."
Barclays had no comment when reached by Gasparino.
On Wednesday, Merrill Lynch [MER
Loading...
()
] finished auctioning off most of the $800 million in assets it had in the Bear Stearns [BSC
Loading...
()
] funds, which controlled more than $20 billion in a combination of investor and lender money, and had invested heavily in various securities backed by subprime loans.
"If Barclays Bank does hold this stuff that it can't sell, Barclay's will take one of the biggest hits on its balance sheet when all gets said and done," Gasparino said.
The auction, which began after 4 pm New York time, was described during the day as going "OK," Gasparino reported.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase [JPM
Loading...
()
] reached an agreement with Bear Stearns to unwind its position with the funds rather than seize its assets and sell them, as Merrill did, Gasparino has learned.
Gasparino said a big question is whether other firms will follow Merrill's example and sell off the assets or just unwind them the way JPMorgan Chase did.
Other key lenders include Goldman Sachs Group [GS
Loading...
()
] and Bank of America [BAC
Loading...
()
].
The Bear Stearns hedge funds, which got hit by double-digit losses in April based on subprime mortgage market bets, have some $9 billion in loans.
Investors have been closely watching to see whether problems in these two funds could spread to others and cause big losses at major banks.
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates discuss the economy and other subjects with CNBC's Becky Quick.
- The show attracts a big TV audience every year, but this year it may take on even more importance.
- …you'll want to be prepared. Tips for getting the most out of the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy.
- Congressman Ron Paul explains to Squawk Box why he’s pushing legislation to audit the Federal Reserve.
- A Macau casino will open Asia's first Michael Jackson shrine after its owners made a key purchase at a US auction.
- CNBC’s technology reporter Jim Goldman guides you through the best gadgets to buy this holiday season.













