If you want to know the latest developments in the shredding of Bear Stearns, you turn to breaking news sites. If you want to know the wider cultural implications of what's happening on Wall Street, check the Urban Dictionary.

One of the most recent entries, less than a week after Bear's problems were reported in the press, is "Bear Stearned ."

Definition:

to crash, to collapse, to plummit, to fail

1. I can't believe it, I completely bear stearned that test.

2. For the third time this week, my computer bear stearned on me.

I plan to use this term at least 50 times this weekend.

Three years after his ouster from American International Group – a company that he built into the world’s largest insurer over a nearly four-decade tenure, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg is still traveling the world looking for deals.

Does the octogenarian billionaire see himself slowing down – or putting his business concerns in someone else’s care any time soon?

“I suppose eventually it will be handed off to somebody else,” he said in an interview with Reuters last Thursday. “Everybody I’m speaking to today, including you,  will be doing something else in the next number of years, obviously ….I don’t have immortality.”

In the meantime, Greenberg, who will turn 84 later this year, credits temperance for his ability to keep up a hectic business schedule.

“I have lived a very clean life, I exercise a great deal, and I love what I am doing.”

Greenberg, who now devotes his time to running two firms that were once closely aligned with AIG – Starr International Co., a closely-held investment firm and C.V. Starr & Co., an insurance agency – said recent business trips have included Hong Kong and Moscow.

Among recent deals, Greenberg’s Starr International and a consortium of investors inked a $900 million Russian commercial real estate deal.

Greenberg said he sees more deals in Russia, and elsewhere where “opportunities arise,” with a particular focus on Asia. Starr International has about $20 billion in assets, and remains a a large AIG shareholder.

Greenberg parted ways with AIG in 2005 amid an accounting scandal, after then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer accused the insurer of improperly keeping the books, and threatened to indict the company if Greenberg remained in charge.

Speaking with Reuters a day after Spitzer resigned as New York Governor amid a sex scandal, Greenberg made this brief comment: “I think I would say no comment on what occurred with respect to Governor Spitzer, but I do feel sorry for his family.”

Photo credit: Maurice Greenberg meets with Vladimir Putin, former president of Russia, in this 2003 Reuters photo.

With Bear Stearns’ stock fetching only $2 a share, folks seem to be making more of a killing on souvenirs.

An EBay search for Bear Stearns returns a mix of odd items ranging from a 99-year-old magazine article about the 1909 crash ($10.49), a stuffed bear dressed in a vest and tie ($51.00),  as well a various stock certificates ($8.49 - $14.99). There are also T-shirts, windbreakers, and backpacks each priced at $2 a piece — ironic? 

For the true collector there’s a Bear Stearns cafeteria card. So far, that’s received 10 bids and now is bidding at $16.50, plus a $5 shipping fee. That is equivalent to about 4 shares of Bear stock as of Wednesday’s close.

Finally, in the true spirit of capitalism, some entrepreneur has found a way to make money out of others’ despair.  For $17.99, you can buy a T-shirt reading “I invested my life savings in Bear Stearns and all I have left is this lousy T-shirt” — perfect for anyone with a Bear employee on his or her list.

(PHOTO: Ebay website)
 

Most everybody in the U.S. newspaper publishing world knows Philip Falcone's name nowadays, but it's not entirely clear that he knows theirs. The Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund manager's notoriety comes from bankrolling efforts to secure large positions in the New York Times Co and Media General Inc, and then shake up the publishers by trying to get his own nominees elected to their boards.

At Media General, this has generated rancor not just for what the Richmond Times-Dispatch publisher sees as an unwanted assault, but for Falcone's full schedule making him too busy to even meet the top executives whose strategy he's trashing. Instead of responding to their overtures, he sent his colleague Joseph Cleverdon as his proxy.

We were unsuccessful in reaching Falcone as well, and Harbinger was too busy working on other projects to respond to Media General Chief Executive Marshall Morton's letter to shareholders explaining why Harbinger's bid to elect rival directors to the board was something only slightly better thought out than the Bay of Pigs operation.

The Wall Street Journal reported on what Falcone might have been doing that took up so much time while Harbinger was busy buying up Times and Media General shares. In two words: Bear Stearns .

Large hedge funds -- including Harbinger Capital Partners, Greenlight Capital, Tremblant Capital Group and Paulson & Co. -- made millions of dollars as Bear Stearns's shares tumbled and various bearish positions rose in value, according to securities filings and people close to the firms.

Harbinger Capital, the $19 billion hedge-fund firm run by Philip Falcone, a former head of high-yield trading at Barclays Capital*, had a short position on Bear from the summer of 2007 until Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The stock fell to $5 from $150 in that time period. In a short position, an investor borrows shares and sells them, hoping to replace them at a later date at a lower price, pocketing the difference in the shares as profit.

To be fair, CEO Morton and Falcone are supposed to address institutional investors on Media General at a forum hosted by investor Mario Gabelli early next month -- assuming Falcone's dance card is still free by then.

* Random conspiracy theory: While we don't know if large Times shareholders were lining up for or against the company before its annual meeting, it's worth noting that Falcone's former employer is part of the Barclays empire, which also has a substantial stake in the New York Times. With friends like these...

Keep an eye on:

- Companies already committed to spending millions to advertise at the Beijing Olympics would find it hard to pull their ads if they felt the situation in Tibet was hurting their images. (Reuters)

- There is confusion over whether Clear Channel Communications Inc's buyout will close, 16 months after the deal was announced, prompting a nearly 9 percent drop in the company's shares to $32.60. If the deal doesn't close by a marketing period that ends next week, Clear Channel could go to court to force the banks and private equity firms to try harder. (Wall Street Journal )

-Investment bank UBS is shopping around the Sundance Channel, has a few potential buyers lined up and could wrap things up in a few weeks. (New York Post)

- Tribune Co's South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper and Miami-based WSFL-TV are merging their operations, giving advertisers "a single point of contact" for reaching the South Florida market via print, broadcast and the Internet. It's the kind of "synergy" that Tribune has been pushing for years, and has the added benefit of saving a whole lot of money as everyone watches to see if new owner Sam Zell can keep the company solvent. (Los Angeles Times)

(Photo: Reuters)

U.S. book retailer Borders Group announced in the wee hours of Thursday morning that it is suspending its quarterly dividend and launching a strategic review to investigate selling the business. JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch are advising Borders on the possible sale. The company also said it had received a $42.5 million financing commitment from Pershing Square Capital Management and an offer to purchase some of its international businesses, pursuant to a $125 million backstop purchase commitment. With that new cash at hand, surely Borders can afford a better press release timeslot than 1 a.m. EST?

Bear Stearns’ top shareholder Joseph Lewis is hoping that another suitor will emerge to challenge JPMorgan, but his best hope may be prying a few extra dollars from JPMorgan itself. Lewis said in a filing he is prepared to “take whatever action is necessary” to protect his investment. But industry watchers are sceptical anything can be done, and Bear Stearns shares have come off their midweek high in what could be a sign of waning optimism about a higher price.

Dresdner Kleinwort, the corporate and investment banking arm of Dresdner Bank, is looking to potentially raise capital from Chinese banks and sovereign wealth funds once its formal separation from Dresdner’s retail banking activities is complete next year, the FT reports. One candidate that Dresdner’s parent, insurer Allianz, might want to consider: CITIC Securities, left with an empty dancecard in the wake of Bear Stearns’ collapse.

Sundance Channel, the joint venture owned by CBS, NBC Universal and Sundance founder Robert Redford, is on the block, according to Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield. Time Warner, Viacom and Cablevision are seen as potential bidders for the channel, which has a valuation of roughly $400 million, Greenfield said.

We know the market is saturated, and nothing can really beat that $2 bill, but if you have the stomach for it here’s one more chuckle at the expense of Bear Stearns.

Minyanville facetiously claimed to have found this “while bidding on a $6 Million Dollar Man action doll,” but in fact it was created by Associate Editor/Senior Designer Christina Banta. So don’t go searching on eBay in an attempt to drive up the price.

Where’s Exhibit A? 

JPMorgan’s deal to buy Bear Stearns has a lengthy merger agreement, but tracking down one important document is proving a challenge.

The Option Agreement, or “Exhibit A”, which supposedly details an option JPMorgan has to buy 20 percent of Bear’s shares, is only mentioned in the agreement, not attached.

Even three days days after the deal was announced, the document hasn’t been filed with the SEC or posted on the companies’ websites. If anyone’s found it please slip it this way and we can make public something that, surely shareholders need to know?

If you’re searching for the merger agreement, the easiest way we’ve found to reach it is on the front of Bear Stearn’s website.

When you’re embroiled in an insider trading scandal and have been unfairly labeled a fugitive, who you gonna call?

Warren Buffett!

The Sage of Omaha is set to appear for a second time on the soap opera mainstay “All My Children,” coming to the aid of the character Erica Kane.

Buffett will play himself in an episode set to air during the May sweeps, following his first appearance on the show in 1992. Buffett and the creator of “All My Children,” Agnes Nixon, are friends, and the investment magnate is a fan of the show, said an “All My Children” spokesman.

Spoiler alert: Kane, played by Susan Lucci, recently pleaded guilty to insider trading — a crime she unintentionally committed — but ended up a fugitive when another convict she was handcuffed to escaped en route to prison. Buffett will enter the plot after Erica’s capture and imprisonment when he is called upon by their mutual friend, Opal (Jill Larson), to use his influence to try to leverage a deal on Erica’s behalf. The outcome, however, is not what Erica had anticipated.

Dun, dun, DUN!

Buffett will be paid union scale salary of roughly $700, bringing his net worth to approximately $62,000,000,700.

The credit crunch may be the biggest obstacle to dealmaking these days, but the race for the White House adds yet another element of uncertainty, investment bankers and private equity executives said on Wednesday at The Deal’s Healthcare Symposium.

“The political season will keep some people on the sidelines,” said Russell Carson, co-founder and general partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.

“The big unknown is an Obama presidency,” Carson added. “With McCain, you can bet on little change. With Hillary, you know what you’re getting. Obama — he’s a complete unknown. We’re not sure he has a healthcare policy … there’s a potential for a sea change here.”

Michael Boublik, co-head of M&A for the Americas at Morgan Stanley, said merger activity tends to be more closely connected to the credit markets than other factors, but politics and anything else that adds uncertainty to the market and disrupts CEO confidence certainly plays a role.

“The current administration is seen as friendly,” Boublik said. “There’s a view that there’s a window now, and that the regulatory environment is going to get less friendly in a new administration.”

Regardless of who wins, Carson said the crucial thing to remember: “You make a real mistake thinking that Washington is your friend; Washington is not your friend.”

(PHOTO: Reuters)

BNP Paribas has walked away from a possible bid for smaller rival Societe Generale, which has been seen as a takeover target after suffering a rogue-trading scandal. A source close to the matter said BNP Paribas came to its decision because of SocGen’s opposition to any tie-up and as BNP would not make a hostile bid. The announcement means BNP Paribas is prevented from bidding for SocGen for six months.

In the wake of CEO Vikram Pandit’s world tour, Citigroup has begun its retrenchment in Asia with plans to close its Smith Barney brokerage business in Taiwan and a report saying it is in talks to sell its Australian retail brokerage business. The Taiwan move wouldn’t be huge - only about 50 people work there. In Australia, National Australia Bank, Australia’s top lender by assets, is reported by the Australian Financial Review to be the potential buyer. The business made a net profit of A$10.4 million ($9.6 million) in 2006 on revenue of A$124.5 million. Citi is reeling from subprime mortgage-related losses, including a $9.83 billion fourth-quarter loss. Earlier this month, it announced a revamp of its U.S. residential mortgage business, aiming to save $200 million per year.

Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, is ramping up in China. The top German lender says it will up its stake in mid-sized Chinese commercial lender Huaxia Bank to 13.7 percent from 9.9 percent for $552 million. It said it had signed a binding agreement to subscribe to 265.6 million newly issued shares as part of a private placement by Huaxia to its three largest shareholders that the Chinese lender announced on Tuesday.