As a final capper to our look at Wall Street two years after the peak of the financial crisis, we offer a different look at the masters of the universe who played the game, ruled the street, and walked away with wheelbarrow loads of cash. We've matched shots of some of the coldest, hardest predators in the world... and a bunch of cuddly reptiles.
A long-time advocate for the rights of investors, Muriel Siebert says Lehman's collapse highlights how difficult it is for investors to benefit from company filings, which often aren't completely truthful. But even so, she sees great opportunities for long-term investors.
The financial crisis was produced by a complex set of circumstances, including a massive housing bubble, poor regulation and irresponsible lending on an epic scale. A handful of bankers became the public faces of the crisis, and now, two years later, we take a look at what became of them.
From the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to the cubicles and boardrooms of New York's biggest banks, when Lehman Brothers failed seemingly overnight, it was clear that the rules had suddenly changed. Here are some recollections of that day in September, 2008.
Since Lehman's collapse in September 2008, regulators around the world have begun erecting a scaffolding of new rules and regulations designed limit excessive risk-taking. The big question is: Are they enough to prevent another financial crisis?
It has been two years since Lehman Brothers went under, sparking the Great Recession. While the banks have done surprisingly well in past two years, the economy is still struggling to recover and millions remain out of work. Here are 10 charts of key economic indicators to watch.
The former CEO of Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld, blames the firm's collapse on hedge funds and short sellers that bet on declines in Lehman's stock price. That explanation may be satisfying for Fuld, but there's one problem -- it's probably not true.
Muriel "Mickie" Siebert, the grande dame of Wall Street, says that Lehman Brothers should never have collapsed, that government's steps were a necessary evil and that there is a still a need for more regulation. She warns that left unregulated, the markets and the economy could still face turmoil ahead.
Many aspects of the financial crisis are still with us. But when it comes to one of the most profound economic impacts of the 2008 meltdown -- the downright seizure of credit markets -- things could hardly be more different now than during the height of the crisis.
This week marks the second anniversary of an event that shook the financial industry to its core. In her newly released book, The Weekend that Changed Wall Street, CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo gives an insider's look at the fateful days surrounding the fall of Lehman Brothers.
"It felt like the world was on fire," recalls financial writer Andrew Ross Sorkin, whose book Too Big To Fail covers the crisis at its peak. In an interview, he discusses the meltdown, its aftermath, the quest for power on Wall Street and why more regulation is still needed.
The capital markets have recovered nicely from the depths of the financial crisis's despair, though skittishness remains. What the economy sorely needs now is the next big thing -- perhaps a new technology that boosts business productivity.
Two years after Lehman Brothers collapsed and put the financial crisis into meltdown mode, Wall Street and the financial industry are still struggling to rebuild from the ashes. But as the economy recovers, are bank stocks good buys? Here are the bull and bear cases for three of the nation's biggest banks.