Why Bear's Shares Are Above $2

``But if there's any one lesson in the Bear drama, it's that the debt side of its ledger is far more make-or-break to the firm than its equity particulars. At this point, it's not so much a matter of the bank's earnings fundamentals and momentum as it is how much might be left for shareholders after all of Bear's offsetting liabilities are taken into account—which itself is no easy feat. Even so, some Street wags were mumbling Mar. 18 that Bear shareholders conceivably could pocket more than $2 a share if Bear were allowed to enter into an orderly bankruptcy (of course, "orderly" is the mother of all assumptions in this credit market). ''