Best Columns: Equities Ed, Lehman

Now’s the time for Investment 101

Things have been pretty grim in the market lately, says Marshall Loeb in MarketWatch, but there’s an upside for novice investors who “don’t know much about stocks”—with share prices low and valuations “more attractive than they’ve been in a long time,” now’s “a great time to educate yourself.” Start in the book store. There are lots of books on investing, some of them not “worth your time and money,” but one good place to start is the “primer on value investing,” Ben Graham’s 1949 book The Intelligent Investor. Next, research and follow two or three companies, and try to figure out why if the “stock price goes up or down more than 5%.” And of course, “keep up with business news.”

Lehman’s ticking clock

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Lehman Brothers appears to have “averted a Bear Stearns-like financial crisis,” says Ben Levisohn in BusinessWeek.com. But raising $6 billion in capital may not be enough to save the independence of the “storied investment bank.” Takeover rumors are nothing new—they’ve “dogged Lehman ever since the bank went public in 1994.” But things have changed over the past decade, during which CEO Richard Fuld reshaped the “onetime bond shop” into a “diversified financial institution.” Unfortunately, dabbling in many services “simply doesn’t work in an environment that requires either strength or size.” Lehman has neither. Perhaps the only mystery is who will “step up as a potential suitor.”