| AAPL | 132.82 | +6.09 | (4.81%) | |
| GOOG | 439.16 | +19.29 | (4.59%) | |
| BRK.B | 4,305.50 | +60.50 | (1.43%) | |
| Value: | 4,877.48 | 85.88 | (1.76%) |
On news that Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers aren't eating it quite as hard as everyone (themselves included) expected, and the Fed cutting yet another chunk out of the intra-rate, there was much rejoicing today as the Dow climbed 420 points.
Lehman Brothers (LEH) climbed 13.76 to close at 45.51 for a 43.34% gain on the day. Damn. Bear Stearns had some help with more short covers and rumors of a higher deal. More talk about how "orderly bankruptcy" would net shareholders more than the paltry steal-at-twice-the-price $2/share ($250M *total*) JPM offer kept hopes for another offer up and optimistic. (The shareholders have to approve the JPM deal and 30%+ of BSC shares are owned by VERY FUCKING PISSED OFF BSC employees. Others aren't so sure.
(Fun side story: My brother Steve is playing a stock market simulator for his stock market class in high school. I told him last night that BSC was going to rally today while holding on for a deal. His simulator doesn't let him place orders under $5/share to prevent massive swings on highly volatile penny stocks, etc. So, since BSC closed at $4.81, he places a limit order at $5, thinking as soon as it passed by $5, his $25k play money order would be executed and he could ride the wave. Except that after-hours pushed the open to $5.50, the limit never triggered and he didn't get in til $6-or-so, losing on the day. BSC peaked at $8.50 and would've made a hefty sum for the wise. The question is if you're going in, do you hold your position long for hope of a better deal, or exit at the quick 45% profit? BSC closed $5.91, up $1.10/22.87%; not bad for a day's work either way.)
