Bear Stearns/Lehman Bear vs Lehman

The pillars of Wall Street used to look down on Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns as mere bond houses. Guess who’s looking up now. Since 1998, shares of both have blown away their competitors. Yet the two, who report earnings next week, have followed very different strategies. Lehman has done best out of the two. But Bear may be the better stock pick. Seven years ago, the two were worth about $5bn each. Today, Lehman sports a $35bn market cap, almost three times Bear’s. That reflects Lehman’s sa...