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“Lehman sets asset sales plan, posts $4 billion loss” wrote a Reuters report:

Lehman Brothers, desperate for capital and fighting for its survival, unveiled a plan to shed weak assets and sell a stake in its funds business, but investors were skeptical and its shares hit new lows.

The Wall Street company, founded in 1850 by three German immigrants who traded cotton, posted a record quarterly loss of $3.9 billion on Wednesday and said it will slash its dividend by more than 90 percent.

“These are last-ditch measures,” said Bill Fitzpatrick, analyst at Optique Capital Management, which does not own Lehman shares. “They’ve tried to raise capital from sovereign wealth funds and others, and that didn’t work. Now they’re selling businesses, which destroys future earnings power.”

Chief Executive Dick Fuld said it would consider offers to buy the entire company. The veteran banker had stressed his determination to keep Lehman independent.

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