- Maine Caucuses a Chance to Right the Romney Ship
- Greek Debt Saga Back on Center Stage for Markets
- Greece Now Struggles to Overcome Mistrust
- Obama Budget Bets Other Concerns Will Trump the Deficit
- China President-in-Waiting to Sample Slices of America
- MF Global Trustee Sees Shortfall of $1.6 Billion
- Iran to Announce 'Very Important' Nuclear Progress
- Traveling Light in a Time of Digital Thievery
- UK Police Arrest Five at Murdoch's Sun Newspaper
- In Search of America's ‘Hottest Forecasters’
- Dow vs. S&P 500: Which is a Better Investment?
- Mick Fleetwood on the MP3 ‘Dumbing Down’ of Music
- Avis on the Road to Strong Growth: Analyst
- Private Homebuilders: Dead Men Walking
- LinkedIn’s Growth Is Already Priced In: Analyst
- The Real Reason Behind Bank of America’s Rally
- 5 Hedge Funds’ Top Stocks Soar After 2011 Rout
- This Valentine’s Day Love Is Served on a Silver Platter
MOST SHARED
- Traveling Light in a Time of Digital Thievery
- Amid Efforts to Rescue Greece, a Lack of Trust From Allies
- Obama Budget Bets Other Concerns Will Trump the Deficit
- Greek Debt Saga Back on Center Stage for Markets
- When Love and the Fed Collide
- Greece Warns Bailout Rebels of Unknown, Dangerous Path
- Why Greece Will Default, Leave the Euro Zone
- Private Homebuilders: Dead Men Walking
MOST POPULAR
HOT ON FACEBOOK
Bear Stearns Says Worst Is Over After Writedown
Text Size 
Bear Stearns expects to write down $1.2 billion of assets linked to mortgages in the fourth quarter, but the worst of the bank's mortgage writedowns is over, Bear's chief financial officer said.
The writedown will result in a quarterly loss, CFO Sam Molinaro told a banking conference.
 |
CNBC.com Illustration |
Investors were relieved the write-down was not bigger and sent Bear Stearns shares [BSC
Loading...
()
] higher.
The news also helped boost the overall stock market and pushed bond prices lower.
"We have another firm out today with writedowns, and people are getting comfortable with the view that this second round of writedowns may be the beginning of the bottom," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of U.S. Equity Group at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management.
Bear Stearns has reduced its exposure to subprime mortgage bonds and repackaged mortgage bonds known as collateralized debt obligations, Molinaro said.
Bear Stearns is now positioned to profit if subprime mortgage bonds weaken further, but still has $884 million of exposure to collateralized debt obligations.
"This has been an incredibly challenging period," Molinaro said.
- Marketing clichés aside, sometimes diamonds are for investing.
- The ‘Fast Money’ traders weigh in on fashion related stocks from apparel to footwear.
- This list of the 10 most active cities for speed traps was compiled by Trapster.com. See if your town is there.
- This Valentine’s Day should prove a love fest for restaurants, as many couples will be dining out.
- Here’s a look at Westminster Kennel Club’s most successful breeds—and how much they cost.
- What kind of homes do celebrity couples share? Here’s our updated list. Take a look.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
