Lehman, Merrill souvenirs on sale, but not cheap
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc may be about to disappear from the Wall Street landscape, but their memorabilia commanded a premium on Monday.
Lehman coffee mugs and golf balls emblazoned with Merrill's logo were among several dozen items up for sale on eBay Inc's online auction site after Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection and Merrill agreed to a $50 billion takeover by Bank of America Corp.
A classic black-and-white Merrill T-shirt was getting bids of $20, while a gold-toned blazer button with the company's bull logo was offered for $13.
Lehman coffee mugs fetched as much as $40 per cup, with 22 bids in, while the firm's minimalist green and white duffel bag was on offer for $150. A green baseball cap had already received $33 in bids, with about four hours left to make an offer.
Enterprising merchants bought rights to related Internet domain names, like lehmanbankruptcy.com, and offered to sell them for as much as $5,000.
There should be plenty more souvenirs to come after Lehman employees showed up at dawn Monday at the New York headquarters, toting duffel bags or suitcases to pack up their desks.
Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection after frantic efforts to find a white-knight buyer failed, while rival Merrill agreed to a buyout from Bank of America amid fears it could be the next victim of exposure to bad real estate assets and a credit crisis.
Items from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co appeared to be less in demand on eBay, with polo shirts a comparative steal at $14 and golf balls commanding less that $2.
The Merrill sale would leave two traditional, independent Wall Street investment banks -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley.
(Reporting by Michele Gershberg and Aarthi Sivaraman; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)