My advice - before you buy the album, read what reliable music review sites has to say about it.

What happens to all that money they raised at substantially high valuations?

Thats part of the game. A lot of the money that LEH raised was for ongoing corp expenses, so that in of itself is a red flag. All that money that they raised was already at a premium, and so even if there is no takeover, investors will not see any benefits until maybe next year, or whenever this whole writing down debacle is over. In short, all that money that they raised… is down the drain, and a way to keep afloat. Part of me really believes that they needed to make themselves a little more attractive and are hoping to be bought.

Why would somebody want to buy Lehman, given its asset portfolio and all associated issues?

True, but you can get a lot more with it. Global presence and clients. Their Investment Management Division has been doing pretty well from what I hear.

Finally, what happens to stock markets globally, once this takeover happens at zilch valuation? Last time Bear Sterns went under, US sneezed and we all had fever!

Yes, will not be good for the markets! But my belief is that something like this is necessary to bring the markets back to order eventually. Bear was slightly different because it was sudden and the CEO kept telling the street that things were fine. I don’t think LEH is 100% transparent, but it is also a lot more open than BEAR and so any sort of consolidation would not be a major surprise. So the impact will be a lot less.

And, just as a after-thought, What happens to all those IIM A,B,C grads who were the all over media for grabbing those 1 Cr+ jobs at these firms in these last couple of years!

GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU CAN!!! I am a US citizen, MBA grad of Indian origin and definitely trying to get out of here, hoping to go to India and work for an Indian firm. Not that that means much, but the job markets are becoming saturated with all the lay offs, so its good to be ahead of the game because there isn’t too much out there,, or at least not with a tag of security.