Bear Loses $854M in 4Q, Hikes B&C Hit

Bear Stearns & Co. posted an $854 million loss in the fourth quarter and increased its provision for subprime writedowns to $1.9 billion, a 60% hike from its previous damage estimate.Bear was a major player in the subprime asset-backed securities market, funding nondepository mortgage bankers, buying their loans, and then securitizing them. Bear Stearns currently owns a nonprime shop in Texas called EMC Mortgage. The Wall Street firm made headlines this summer when two subprime-related hedge funds it had started filed for bankruptcy protection. The London-based Barclays Bank -- which had lent $400 million to the funds -- sued Bear on Wednesday, saying the Wall Street firm misled it about the funds' performance. Bear Stearns can be found online at http://www.bearstearns.com.