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Trash is king as Lehman shares surge
It’s either a sign of sheer boredom on Wall Street, or an early celebration of the one-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ demise, but shares of the fallen invesment bank were red hot today.
The stock rose some 200%. Take that AIG.
For some inexplicable reason, shares of the bankrupt investment bank, which trade on the loosely regulated over-the-counter Pink Sheets, changed hands some 73 million times on Friday. That’s a lot of trading in a stock that’s been worthless for nearly 12 months.
Indeed, on a typical day, the average trading volume in Lehman shares is about 2.6 million. The last time Lehman’s stock came anywhere close to today’s trading volume was way back in October, about a month after the Wall Street firm filed for bankruptcy.
Then again, today’s trading surge boosted Lehman’s closing stock price to 15 cents. It had been sitting around 5 cents for months. Better yet, Lehman now has a respectable market cap of $103 million–not too shabby for a small-cap company on the Pink Sheets.
Somebody loves A.I.G.
A.I.G.’s headquarters, that is. Preservatationists have written to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission asking that American International Group’s Art Deco tower on 70 Pine Street in lower Manhattan be designated a city landmark, the New York Post reports.  A.I.G. is trying to sell the tower, as well as a connecting building at 72 Wall Street, and the preservationists are worried that a new owner may ruin the period details that make the building so distinctive.
Crain’s New York Business has estimated that 70 Pine Street could reap between $78 million and $116 million in a sale.
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The Wall
