JPMorgan buys Bear Stearns

JPMorgan Chase has acquired Bear Stearns, which had been pushed to the brink of collapse by the subprime mortgage crisis, for a bargain price $270 million in stock. That sale price includes the Bear Stearns headquarters at 383 Madison Avenue. The 85-year-old investment bank, which survived the Depression, had been decimated by its mortgage-backed investments. JPMorgan bought the firm for less than one-tenth of its market price on Friday. JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve will guarantee Bear Stearns’ huge trading obligations.