Bear Stearns to surprise investors with losses

By Alexandra Steblinina. Bear Stearns was expected Thursday to surprise investors. It is slated to report its first ever quarterly loss before the market open.

Photo: Bear Stearns to surprise investors with losses

The failure of the firm's hedge funds due to bad bets on risky home loans this past summer was seen as one of the triggers of the current credit crisis.

Bear Stearns took a hit late Wednesday ahead of the report when Barclays Bank sued it, charging the embattled firm misrepresented the health of one of its failed hedge funds

As Pravda.ru reported earlier, top executives at  Bear Stearns Cos., including Chief Executive James Cayne, may forego year-end bonuses as well, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday. Bear Stearns was expected to report its results for the quarter Thursday morning.

Like Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns is expected to report losses and billions of dollars in writedowns for its fiscal fourth quarter.

The company was founded in 1923 and serves corporations, institutions, governments and individuals. The company's business includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services.

Through Bear Stearns Securities Corp., it offers global clearing services to broker dealers, prime broker clients and other professional traders, including securities lending.

Bear Stearns is also known for one of the most widely read market intelligence pieces on the street, known as the "Early Look at the Market - Bear Stearns Morning View."

Photo: AP

Source: agencies