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Will Morgan Stanley Survive the Weekend?

October 10, 2008 4:03 PM

ABC NEWS' Zunaira Zaki reports: Will Wall Street heavyweight Morgan Stanley survive the weekend?

Morgan_stanley_081010_main Shares for Morgan Stanley, a storied investment bank which recently converted itself into a commercial bank, dropped into the single digits in trading today as investors speculated on its future.

"Morgan Stanley is getting thrown out with the bathwater," said Ada Lee, an analyst with Sterne Agee brokerage. Investors refused to be reassured despite a statement from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ today that it will not renege on a promised $9 billion investment.

Monday is a bank holiday in both the United States and Japan, delaying a completion of the transaction between Morgan and Mitsubishi, further exacerbating the uncertainty surrounding Morgan stock.

The speculation surrounding Morgan is oddly reminiscent of the aura around Lehman Brothers before it filed for bankruptcy. The Friday before Lehman declared bankruptcy, speculation regarding the bank's future was at a fever pitch. Come Monday, Sept. 15, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in New York.

Banking analyst Dick Bove of Landenberg Thallman said, "I hope I am dead wrong," but "Morgan does not survive this weekend." He added however, that if people did “normal business” with the company the problem would go away, but the markets are "consumed by fear."

Bove said that Morgan may be acquired by either Citigroup or Mitsubishi UFJ. Analyst Sean Ryan of Sterne Agee disagreed, saying that Citigroup is "constrained in its ability to conduct a transaction of that size."

As the Wall Street Journal said today, "The sharks are circling closer to Morgan Stanley."

October 10, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (40)

User Comments

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Now Paulson is holding a press conference saying the U.S. will buy stock in U.S. banks.

Great, here comes socialism. And I moved away from France to get away from this.

Posted by: Andrew | Oct 10, 2008 7:04:40 PM

THIS IS THE GOP'S BED, NOW THEY HAVE TO SLEEP IN IT.

Posted by: ROD MCDONNELL | Oct 10, 2008 7:14:06 PM

Print a few hundred billion for them they'll be just fine. Fine until that paper is worth less than the ink they use to print it...

Posted by: Hege! | Oct 10, 2008 7:31:41 PM

-best advice -pay off what ever you can -
own what you buy from here on out -so the banks and repo companys wont take it down the road when runaway inflation hits after a great depression -read what happened to argentina-the 70 s i think and also-germany after world war one -the moey became worthless as the prices skyrocketed -so in the end the banks that did survive -confiscated everything -so again own what you buy -dont give any an inch to mess up your credit and take things -save up for hard times -there on the way -the stocks effect the trucking industry -the trucking industry effects the costs in the super markets
the higher prices effect loss of spending purchases -loss of purchaces effect employment -and no one can get loans worth a damn anymore -----oh i alsmost forgot -we havent hit bottom of the barrel yet on credit and mortgauge crisses yet so it aint over -and winters just comming into view - ----ill see you later in the soup lines or on the hunting hikeing camping fishing minning
trail -thats what my dad did in the great depression -get creative america -hustle more --daniel-the future fedral government bail out -one neighbor asks another -can you spare a dime mister -the reply is -i cant make cents -or sence

Posted by: daniel | Oct 10, 2008 7:36:04 PM

Read Carlotta's blog.
Carlotta for President.

Posted by: Lisa | Oct 10, 2008 8:10:35 PM

And this is the same Administration that pushed to revive social security by having us all put our retirement money in the stock market!

I remember G.W. pushing that scam!

Posted by: Traci | Oct 10, 2008 8:11:55 PM

Isn't it funny how noone in Washington saw this coming...

In my opinion it's probably a good thing as the stock market was getting way out of hand and the rich were just getting disgustingly richer.

Maybe, just maybe this will bring reality back into the ballgame and make people a little more weary.

Posted by: Pamela | Oct 10, 2008 8:37:00 PM

investors speculated on its future. just more gamblin lingo. i say they should all die and burn in hell for what they have done to our country.

Posted by: bill morrison | Oct 10, 2008 8:47:44 PM

Let them fail. In capatilist societies we go bankrupt when business fails. It's the only way to correct the corrupt business cycle systems. Google H. R. 2755 and then demand the low lifes in Congress act now - 1 page, versus 455 pages of nothing for you and I other than a future of debt and bailouts.

Posted by: RonPaulRevolution | Oct 11, 2008 12:49:36 AM

I think the Media is driving everyone crazy. Fear and greed are being fueled. Stay calm and think of ways of getting out of debt. I also think to get this economy moving we have to spend some money personally. Remember the trickle down effect of Reagan. Get the democrats out Barney Frank Pelosi and Obama this will get us moving again.

Posted by: candace | Oct 11, 2008 8:12:31 AM

I think the whole thing is an orchestrated collapse.Washington is the CORPORATION.They are puppets of GLOBALIZATION.They have created an immoral systen doomed for failure.They are hollowed out men who say evil is good and good is evil.They are liars and they are thieves.And many in this country are like them.And now that money has shown itself as exactly what it really is,everyone is shocked.Money can not be your god or make you into a god.

Posted by: charle | Oct 11, 2008 8:27:45 AM

The question is not whether Morgan Stanley will survive. The question is will our freedoms, our liberties, our nation survive as the government encroaches more and more on this economy.

The question should be why are the crooks in Congress who are in cahoots with the crooks in the financial/mortgage industry behind bars right now? How can we expect the fox to guard the henhouse when it has a large appetite for our money?

Posted by: Margie Reilly | Oct 11, 2008 8:55:57 AM

Why should we worry about Al Quiada? We have the democratic Congress who are doing a great job of destroying this country. John McCain sounded the alarm years ago, before the hour was this late, but the partisan dems didn't listen.

Posted by: Mike | Oct 11, 2008 3:44:12 PM

The number one cause of this was Bush jr, he had the job to oversee this and didnt. He has no plan to reform these companies, there is no reason for a CEO to make million even in good times. It is a waist of company money and puts them out of touch with the people that do the hard work in most companies.

I work on aircraft for far less than what a CEO makes. I do not get to make mistakes and if I did it is not the stock value that people have to worry about crashing.

If people want to restore faith in the market. Cap CEO's pay to no more than 5 times the lowest paid person in the company and start prosicuting people for the bad loans.

Posted by: Dave | Oct 12, 2008 9:04:09 AM

Headline from an article on bloomberg.com back in 2004 reads:

"JPMorgan, Banks Back Lenders Luring Poor With 780 Percent Rates"

I hope JPMorgan doesn't make it thru the weekend...IMO, these types of businesses(payday advance lenders) are shameless and have harmed all Americans with their tactics of greed and exploition, under the guise of "helping" the poor.

But there is no justice, because if JPMorgan fails, taxpayers will again be asked to bail out those at the top.

Posted by: Linda | Oct 12, 2008 1:19:01 PM

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