Bruce Miller:
As some of you may know, Bear Stearns has just received a loan from JP Morgan. Of course, we're gonna have to wait and see how the markets react, but that should lay to rest any concerns about the bank's health.
Debate host:
Now, I take it you have no plans to sell your $200 million in Bear stock?
Bruce Miller:
No, as a matter of fact, when we're done here, I'll probably go out and buy some more. [Crowd lightly chuckles]
Debate host:
For the opposing view, Mr. Baum.
Mark Baum:
I got to stand for this. [Takes the microphone and stands] Okay, hi. My firm's thesis is pretty simple. Wall Street took a good idea, Lewis Ranieri's mortgage bond, and turned it into an atomic bomb of fraud and stupidity that's on its way to decimating the world economy.
Bruce Miller:
How do you really feel? [Crowd laughs]
Mark Baum:
I'm glad you still have a sense of humor; I wouldn't if I were you. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have no problem telling someone they're wrong...
Danny Moses:
[In the crowd, looking at Bear Stearns' stock price live on his Blackberry, showing Vinny and Porter; they speak in hushed whispers] (Bear Stearns is denying rumors of liquidity problems...Holy fuck, it's 39 now!)
Mark Baum:
...is not so enjoyable. We live in an era of fraud in America. Not just in banking, but in government, education, religion, food, even baseball. What bothers me isn't that fraud is not nice or that fraud is mean. It's that, for 15,000 years, fraud and short-sighted thinking have never, ever worked. Not once.
Danny Moses:
(Jesus, Bear at 37. Bear's at 37.)
Mark Baum:
Eventually, people get caught, things go south.
Vinny Daniel:
(Plummeting.)
Danny Moses:
(It's fucking plummeting, man.)
Mark Baum:
When the hell did we forget all that? I thought we were better than this, I really did. And the fact that we're not doesn't make me feel alright and superior. It makes me feel...sad.
Danny Moses:
(Every time I fucking hit "refresh", it's dropping, man. Every time.)
Mark Baum:
And as much fun as it is to watch pompous, dumb Wall Streeters be wildly wrong, [To Miller] and you are wrong, sir, I just know, that at the end of the day, average people are going to be the ones that are going to have to pay for all this. Because they always, always do.
Porter Collins:
(It's 32. 32.)
Danny Moses:
(It's fucking tanked, man.)
Mark Baum:
That's my two cents, thank you. [Sits down]
Porter Collins:
(Let me drop a deuce on Deutsche).
Debate host:
Does our bull have a response?
Bruce Miller:
Only that, in the entire history of Wall Street, no investment bank has ever failed unless caught in criminal activities. So, yes, I stand by my Bear Stearns optimism.
Man in crowd:
Mr. Miller, I'm sorry, quick question. From the time you guys started talking, Bear Stearns stock has fallen more than 38%. [People in the crowd start murmuring in surprise] Would you still buy more?
Bruce Miller:
[Trying to be optimistic] Y-yeah, sure...of course I'd buy more. Why not?
Mark Baum:
BOOM.
