Subprime still attracts Wall St. dollars

Although many subprime lenders are seeing their shares plunge dramatically on the stock market, firms like Bear Stearns and Citigroup are investing in high-risk lenders even more heavily than they already have. The firms are betting on a recovery in the home-mortgage business and are shoring up faltering lenders. “We think that in the long term, there’s a very good business there,” Warren Spector, co-chief operating officer of Bear Stearns, said last month. Last month Bear Stearns completed a takeover of subprime lender Encore Credit Corp. more [WSJ]