Bear Stearns: The old firm goes its own way

It's a firm that revels in its sense of history and values its independence. What it does, it does well - clearing, mortgage bonds, niche investment banking and just a little bit of prop trading. Nick Kochan goes inside Bear Stearns and gets a verbal memo from its combative chairman "Ace" Greenberg.

Greenberg: still enjoying the game

As Wall Street consolidates, and banking personalities get swallowed up in corporate structures and bureaucracy, one bank is defying the trend. The 75-year-old investment bank Bear Stearns is a throwback to an earlier age of feisty bankers who have the confidence to be idiosyncratic, the toughness to speak their minds, and humility to admit their mistakes. They also have a nose for cash and a desire to fill their boots with money like few of their peers.

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