Anchorage Daily News

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. has lost more than $3 million so far this month due to the crackup of Bear Stearns Cos., the nation's fifth-largest investment bank.

On Friday, the $37 billion state savings account owned 43,930 shares of Bear Stearns stock. It isn't known yet whether any of the shares were sold on Monday, officials with the state-owned corporation said. At the start of this year, each share was selling for $88.25 and the fund's holding was worth $3.9 million.

But the value of Bear Stearns stock has been sliding for months.

By last Friday it was worth $30 a share.

On Monday the stock price plunged to $2.84 before recovering slightly by the end of the day to $4.81.

The value of the Permanent Fund's investment in the company tumbled $1.14 million since Friday, said Laura Achee, spokeswoman for the Permanent Fund.

From the end of February until Monday, the fund lost $3.29 million on its investment, Achee said.

The New York City-based investment bank -- heavily involved in the crumbling mortgage-backed securities market and reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy -- fell apart last week when many of its investors sold out.

In a Federal Reserve-approved buyout, JP Morgan Chase & Co. announced Sunday it would purchase Bear Stearns for about $300 million, or $2 per share.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

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