Corporate Bankruptcies Will be a Key Investor Concern in the New Year
Jan 7th, 2009 | By Martin Hutchinson | Category: Financial NewsInvestors are breathing a sigh of relief that 2008 is over, but they shouldn’t get too comfortable. After all, with a worldwide recession under way, investors can expect acceleration in corporate bankruptcies in 2009.
But the question is – which ones?
In the financial services sector, 2008 was a year of spectacular failures:
- Bear Stearns Cos. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. were absorbed by JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), respectively.
- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (OTC: LEHMQ) filed for bankruptcy protection.
- And financial-sector giants American International Group Inc. (AIG) and Citigroup Inc. (C) were both bailed out a vast expense to taxpayers.
If at the start of 2008 I’d written that the entire New York investment banking business would disappear during the…