First quarter earnings drop 79% at Bear

Before JPMorgan Chase & Co. of New York stepped in to buy The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. at a bargain basement price in March, the Wall Street firm was already flailing. Bear Stearns reported a 79% drop in profit for the first quarter ended Feb. 29, according to a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York-based financial services firm posted a profit of $110 million, or 86 cents a share, down from $548 million, or $3.82 a share, during the same period a year earlier, the SEC filing said. Revenue for the quarter fell 40% to $1.48 billion, from $2.48 billion.