There has been plenty of advice given to Bear Strean’s shareholders in the press since JP Morgan offered $2 per share.  Many say hold out for a better deal and it seems like some are.  The stock is currently trading above $5, although there’s speculation that bondholders are buying up the stock in a last-ditch effort to sway the market.  David Weidner at MarketWatch thinks the shareholders should take the $2 and run…

“Here’s what matters: on March 16 Alan Schwartz, the chief executive of Bear Stearns, faced the certainty that when the broker opened its doors the next day it would fail. Without the Federal Reserve’s backing and J.P. Morgan’s pledge, Bear Stearns today would be a case number in bankruptcy court.

Bear Stearns brought this upon itself, not J.P. Morgan.

That’s the cold truth that the Bear Stearns board of directors, including Schwartz and Chairman Jimmy Cayne, faced a few days ago. Sure, the current environment seems rosier now, but that’s because Bear already is part of J.P. Morgan.
Saving the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of Bear employees and paying anything at all for a broker that may have been wiped out in a day isn’t enough for some. ” Read more…