Lehman Brothers May Need a Miracle to Survive

[Wetzelbill]

Lehman Brothers May Need a Miracle to Survive
AP

New York - The Wall Street firm that started the U.S. cotton trade before the Civil War and financed the railroads that built a nation might soon fade into history.

Just days after Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Richard S. Fuld tried to pitch Wall Street on a plan to save the firm by shrinking it, he's in complicated negotiations with potential buyers that may see the company sold piecemeal as soon as Sunday night, analysts said.

"Nothing short of a miracle can save Lehman as is," said Anthony Sabino, professor of law and business at St. John's University. "It is highly unlikely Lehman will be in existence on Monday morning."

Late Friday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York held an emergency meeting with top Washington policymakers and major financial institutions to discuss Lehman's future.

Attendees included Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; and Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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