NEW
YORK (MarketWatch) -- The entrance of the New York Stock Exchange
served as a spot for little reflection on the demise of a major name in
investment banking.
Traders grappled with the enormity of landscape-changing events, as once-giants Lehman Brothers
(LEH:Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc
Last: 0.19-3.46-94.79%3:34pm 09/15/2008
Delayed quote data Sponsored by:
![]()
LEH 0.19,
-3.46,
-94.8%)
filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch
(MER:Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc
Last: 19.44+2.39+14.02%3:34pm 09/15/2008
Delayed quote data Sponsored by:
![]()
MER 19.44,
+2.39,
+14.0%)
got acquired, and AIG's
(AIG:American International Group, Inc
Last: 6.36-5.78-47.61%3:34pm 09/15/2008Delayed quote data Sponsored by:
![]()
AIG 6.36,
-5.78,
-47.6%)
shares slumped.
Only two traders stood outside the NYSE shortly ahead of Monday's open.
One was on the phone, and the other declined to be interviewed.
Inside, on the NYSE
floor, specialists at the old Lehman Brothers trading booth stood
alone, with few lining up to trade. Goldman Sachs
(GS:Goldman Sachs Group, Inc
Last: 136.93-17.28-11.21%3:34pm 09/15/2008Delayed quote data Sponsored by:
![]()
GS 136.93,
-17.28,
-11.2%)
assumed responsibility of NYSE-listed securities traded by Lehman
Brothers' specialists and also took control of Lehman's clearing
activity.
See full story.
Theodore Weisberg of Seaport Securities compared Lehman's fall to the
demise of Drexel some 20 years ago. "I've been coming here for 40
years, and there have been periods of times like this before," he said.
"It's never fun."
Lehman shares fell 95% to 18 cents as traders eyed the 158-year-old institution's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
See full story.
"It's a financial crisis, but we'll get through it," said David
Henderson of Raven Securities, an independent broker. "Hopefully [Fed
Chairman Ben] Bernanke will have some soothing words for the market
this week."
"This mess is a huge mess," he said.
Robert Baxter, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, said firms
borrowed short to lend long as real estate prices rose, but became
vulnerable when interest rates turned against them.
"It's a crisis," he said
while standing on the corner of Broad and Wall streets," It's certainly
the worst I can remember in 20 years. I don't know if there's a banker
alive who can remember a tougher situation. The water has definitely
been coming over the wall for some time. I think we'll weather it, but
it's going to be tough."
AIG and Merrill Lynch
have all been major employers in Lower Manhattan for decades. AIG
occupies a classic Art Deco skyscraper on Pine Street, fewer than four
blocks away from the NYSE. Offices for Goldman Sachs
(GS:Goldman Sachs Group, Inc
Last: 136.93-17.28-11.21%3:34pm 09/15/2008Delayed quote data Sponsored by:
![]()
GS 136.93,
-17.28,
-11.2%)
and American Express
(AXP:American Express Company
Last: 36.51-2.44-6.27%3:34pm 09/15/2008Delayed quote data Sponsored by:
![]()
AXP 36.51,
-2.44,
-6.3%)
remain on Wall Street.
Farther west along the Hudson River, Merrill Lynch occupies an anchor skyscraper in the World Financial Center.
Lehman Brothers, however, has been located in midtown Manhattan for the past several years, close to Morgan Stanley
(MS:morgan stanley com new
Last: 34.52-2.71-7.28%3:34pm 09/15/2008Delayed quote data Sponsored by:
![]()
MS 34.52,
-2.71,
-7.3%)
and UBS.
Steve Gelsi is a reporter for MarketWatch in New York.
