Morgan Stanley, Goldman shares tumble as financial fears rise

NEW YORK -- Executives of both companies insisted a day earlier, when they were reporting profits for the most recent quarter, that they do have the financial wherewithal to go it alone.

But analysts said the question increasingly is whether continued market turmoil could force them to acquire or be acquired by commercial banks, whose deposit-taking operation would provide a stable source of funding. The upheaval in the U.S. financial system has driven Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns into emergency sales, and Lehman Brothers Holdings into bankruptcy.

Anxious investors also bid up the price of protecting against a default of debt issued by the two investment banks. The spike in credit default swaps has fanned fear gripping Wall Street that the investment banking model is in jeopardy of extinction.

John Mack, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, struck back on Wednesday. He told employees in an e-mail that the No. 2 U.S. investment bank was "in the midst of a market controlled by fear and rumors."

"I know all of you are watching our stock price (Wednesday), and so am I," he said in the e-mail. "After the strong earnings and $179 billion in liquidity we announced — which virtually every equity analyst highlighted in their notes this morning — there is no rational basis for the movements in our stock or credit default spreads."

Shares of investment banks have been sideswiped by a wave of short selling, which can cause big swings as investors bet that a stock's price will fall so they can profit from it.

Morgan Stanley shares dropped $6.95, or 24%, to close at $21.75 after plunging as low as $16.08 earlier in the day. Goldman shares fell $18.51, or 14%, to $114.50, after dropping as low as $97.78.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday took measures to rein in aggressive forms of short-selling that were blamed in part for the demise of Lehman, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. The regulator adopted more restrictions on such trades, and tightened anti-fraud regulations.