Lehman Brothers (LEH:NYSE) is one of the nation’s major investment banks. Lehman was founded in 1850 and has a rich history on Wall Street. However, Lehman’s stock price has been taking a beating this year as they have been painted with the same brush as Bear Stearns. There are rumors floating around Wall Street nearly every day about how Lehman is rapidly running out of liquidity and Lehman’s need to go to the Federal Reserve’s discount borrowing window on a regular basis.

All investment banks, including Lehman, are built on two items - liquidity and trust. When either of these items is lost, investment banks cease to exist and the best that be hoped for is similar to what happened to Bear Stearns-an arranged takeover by a stronger firm. Lehman’s efforts to raise fresh capital have caused the markets to fear that Lehman is going down the same path Bear Stearns