Bear Stearns Assets Lose $2.7 Billion; Taxpayers on Hook 

Remember the Bear Stearns failure, way back in March? A huge portfolio of mortgage assets taken on by the federal government in the wake of the investment bank’s failure has continued to lose value, to the tune of $2.7 billion in the third quarter. The nine percent loss on the $30 billion in mortgage assets ends up leaving the Fed with a book worth $26.8 billion as of Thursday, according to an update provided by the Federal Reserve.