The dean of Akron's University's Business School, Raj Aggarwal, says investors holding stock and other securities in Lehman Brothers will be paid back only a portion of their money. Those investors include banks, companies and individuals in Northeast Ohio -- some who don't even realize they have a problem yet.
Aggarwal: "The point is we may be exposed indirectly. For example I may have an investment in Fidelity funds, as an example, or Vanguard or any number of other companies... I don't know how much they have invested in Lehman securities. The indirectness could be third tier or fourth tier, could be any number of tiers before you're exposed to Lehman Brothers."
On the bright side, Aggarwal says, the fact that the government didn't rescue Lehman, as it did Bear Sterns earlier this year, might signal that the Feds think the market is strong enough to take a massive hit. In any case, he says the government can't protect investors against every bad deal.
Aggarwal:"Wall street is filled with people who are -- you know how it works, greed and fear. Take away the fear and what's left?."
And Aggarwal adds that the bankruptcy and the Bank of America take-over of Merrill Lynch are logical steps a wounded market takes to to repair itself. He cautions consumers though not to panic.
Aggarwal "It's a touchy situation right now. The key thing is for everybody to be calm about all of this. Really it's a matter of building up confidence in the financial market."
Kymberli Hagelberg, 90.3