Bear Stearns Assets Fall $1 Billion, Fed Says

Assets the Federal Reserve agreed to accept in March from Bear Stearns Cos. to facilitate its sale to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. are now valued about $1 billion less than estimated at the time of the transaction.

The decline, to $28.9 billion from $30 billion in mid-March, isn't yet enough to put U.S. taxpayers on the hook for any losses; J.P. Morgan, under an agreement with the Fed, would take the first hit once the assets are sold. In addition, the assets are expected to be sold over the coming decade in a way that is designed ...