I'm sure that membermarks don't make any difference in the real world when it comes to assessing the value of a world class investment bank such as Lehman Brothers. As far as posts alluding to a Fed bail out of LEH at $X price, I suspect that there are a few of the 'other' vulture investment banks remaining that could or would purchase parts or all of LEH.
As you state, its pure speculation on anyones part on the belief of valuation. I am not discounting someones perspective, I simply voice a pragmatic belief that Investment banks are not like other businesses, in so much as we have learned that off balance sheet bets of extraordinary leverage, size and risk don't actually appear on balance sheets and yet may have devastatingly drastic effects when contra parties suddenly choose to act. LEH was, as was BSC, dabbling in enormous leveraged trades at a reported dent /equity ratio of $30+ : $1. Sudden unwinding of such incredibly large leveraged bets can cause the most robust balance sheets to implode. Therefore, its of no surprise to many that LEH is in the plight that its in.
That being said, I hope shareholders take every precaution to measure the risks involved in owning LEH. I congratulate the long term LEH short sellers as these sellers have made an extraordinarily large gain by being brave enough to sell short LEH and stand firm. I hope loridans makes enormous profit trading LEH.
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