Hedge fund managers are accusing Bear Stearns of trying to manipulate the market in securities based on subprime mortgages, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition.
The confrontation provides a rare look into the complex trading in the mammoth U.S. mortgage market, which played a critical role in financing the housing boom, and the complicated relationships between hedge funds and investment banks, the paper said.
Hedge funds that had sold short such securities made profits when an index tied to a basket of subprime bonds was falling. But the index has recovered in recent weeks, leading to howls of protest from hedge funds, according to the report.