Bear's B&C-Linked Fixed-Income Revs Plunge

Fixed-income revenues at Bear Stearns & Co. plunged 88% in the company's third fiscal quarter because of rising residential subprime delinquencies and a lack of liquidity in the secondary market.Bear -- a major player in subprime mortgage-backed securities -- reported fixed-income revenues of $118 million for the quarter, compared with $945 million in the previous quarter. "Market conditions in both the mortgage and credit businesses were extremely challenging this quarter," the Wall Street giant said in a statement. Over the past few years, Bear has financed nonprime lenders and bought loans from many nonbanks as a way to secure a steady flow of product for its subprime securitization business. A few months ago, Bear closed down two hedge funds that had invested billions in subprime assets, only to later discover those assets were almost worthless. Bear Stearns can be found online at http://www.bearstearns.com.