JP Morgan Completes Fed-aided Bear Takeover

JP Morgan completed its government-subsidized takeover of Bear Stearns, the Wall Street bank that lost its shirt to the mortgage meltdown.  JP Morgan received a sweetheart deal from the fed, who guaranteed nearly $30 billion worth of Bear Stearn's most dreadful mortgage-based liabilities in order to save the bank from complete implosion. From Reuters on the takeover: Weakened by its massive exposure to mortgage markets and the embarrassing blow-up of two of its hedge funds, Bear was driven to the brink of bankruptcy in March by traders who drained about $17 billion of the firm's cash in a matter of days. Federal officials, worried a Bear bankruptcy would drag the rest of the markets down with it, strong-armed the bank to accept JPMorgan's $2-a-share offer, backed by a Federal Reserve