Bear Stearns Shares Fall on Liquidity Speculation

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos. fell 9.3 percent in New York trading, the most since 1998, on speculation the company lacks sufficient access to capital.

Bear Stearns, the second-biggest underwriter of mortgage-backed bonds, declined $6.52 to $63.56 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange at 1:55 p.m., the lowest level since March 2003. The shares pared earlier losses of as much as 14
percent after Bear Stearns said the speculation had no basis.

``There's an insolvency rumor and concerns on liquidity, that they just have no cash,'' said Michael Mainwald, head of equity trading at Lek Securities Corp. in New York. ``There's been rumors of this for the past week or two.''