Morgan Stanley Said to Be in Talks to Sell Stake to China’s CIC

Christine Harper
Bloomberg
Thursday, Sept 18, 2008

Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, is considering selling a larger stake to China Investment Corp. and is in talks about a possible merger with Wachovia Corp., said a person familiar with the matter.

China Investment Corp., the state-controlled investment fund, bought a 9.9 percent stake in Morgan Stanley in December after the New York-based investment bank reported a quarterly loss. The Chinese fund could buy as much as 49 percent of Morgan Stanley, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks aren’t public and may end in no agreement.

John Mack, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive officer, got a call from Wachovia yesterday indicating interest, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Talks about a deal with Wachovia have “advanced,” CNBC reported.

The New York-based firm is also seeking ways to limit short sales of its stock, the person said.

Morgan Stanley’s shares slid for an eighth consecutive day, down $1.84, or 8.5 percent, to $19.91 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 9:52 a.m.

Looks like China owns our butts now

It is quite advantageous to world stability for us to have strong (one would almost say necessary) market relations with china.

Think about this. If china had nothing of value invested in the united states, then what incentive would there be to foster stability, and work toward compromise?

Warmachine I really appreciate you posting threads like this, it becomes a bit tiresome to come into this particular forum and read nothing but politics, no current news or Events!

wouldnt mind having a piece of yours....

wha....this IS a dating site, right?? right??

ummm, this isn't current events?

I was thinking about this and during a conversation I had recently, this came to mind:

The biggest evidence of the farce that is the left/right paradign is this, Bush has mortgaged this country and her future to what may be the most leftist totalitarian government on the planet.

Yet we wage war in iraq for "freedom" I gag at that. When those democratic protesters hit tienamin square they got run down by tanks, what did the beacon of democracy do? we increased our trade with them. we are screwed

Yep, our government picks and chooses where democracy needs to be (usually oil, or strategic areas to get energy resources, also without a military worth a crap) while it also picks and chooses what dictators to hold hands with (usually those with militaries that could do some serious damage, usually those that have the bomb, usually those that will loan us massive quantities of money or do our dirty work)

such is the notion that getting the cash back in any way shape or form makes the game fair.

not.