The Bear Stearns Funds specimen stock certificate circa 2000 (Massachusetts)

Financial crisis collectible. Simple vignette of an eagle with wings spread. Printer's specimen (sample) from American Banknote (ABN). Unissued and cancelled. Approximately 12 x 8 inches. 

Very rare piece!!! 

Bear Stearns was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that famously failed during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure, it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The company's main business areas before its failure were capital markets, investment banking, wealth management, and global clearing services, and it was heavily involved in the subprime mortgage crisis.

Bear Stearns was founded as an equity trading house on May 1, 1923, by Joseph Ainslie Bear, Robert B. Stearns and Harold C. Mayer with $500,000 in capital. Internal tensions quickly arose among the three founders resulting in at least one public tussling. The firm survived the Wall Street Crash of 1929 without laying off any employees and by 1933 opened its first branch office in Chicago.

In 1985, Bear Stearns became a publicly traded company. It served corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals. The company's business included corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities, fixed income sales & risk management, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management, and custody services. Through Bear Stearns Securities Corp., it offered global clearing services to broker dealers, prime broker clients, and other professional traders, including securities lending.

"The Bear Stearns Funds" refer to the two hedge funds, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund and the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leveraged Fund, that collapsed in 2007, triggering widespread concern and contributing to the company's eventual downfall during the 2008 financial crisis. The funds invested heavily in risky mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and when the housing market began to falter, their value plummeted, leading to investor panic and forcing Bear Stearns to attempt a rescue. The failure of these funds highlighted the risks associated with these complex financial instruments and became an early warning sign of the larger financial crisis to come.

Investment Strategy:
Both funds invested heavily in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), which were bond-like securities backed by pools of loans. The "enhanced leveraged" fund used more borrowed money, or leverage, to try and generate higher returns.

Market Collapse:
The funds' value dropped significantly as defaults on subprime mortgages increased and the housing market weakened in 2007.

Investor Panic and Bailout:
Investors began demanding their money back, and Bear Stearns was forced to halt redemptions and provide a large capital infusion to try and prevent the situation from getting worse.

Liquidation and Fire Sale:
The funds ultimately had to be wound down, and the liquidation of their complex assets on the market caused a "fire sale" that depressed prices for similar securities across the financial industry.

Contribution to Bear Stearns' Failure:
The loss of confidence in the funds and the financial strain of trying to bail them out damaged Bear Stearns' reputation and financial position, contributing to its eventual collapse and sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2008.

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