Wall Street & Technology: Blog: Could Technology Have Saved Bear Stearns?

Could Technology Have Saved Bear Stearns?

Although a full autopsy has yet to be performed on Bear Stearns, reason and common sense suggest that state-of-the art technology might have helped the firm circumvent some of its troubles. Here are a few examples.

Telepresence software -- Using a high-quality telepresence system, chairman and former CEO James Cayne could have made morale-boosting appearances at Bear Stearns offices without having to miss his bridge games, both last week, as Alan Schwartz was trying to negotiate for the firm's survival with the Fed and JPMorgan and Cayne was at the North American Bridge Championship in Detroit, and last summer while two Bear hedge funds collapsed and Cayne was at a 10-day bridge tournament in Nashville. Cisco says its TelePresence live video system "creates life-like, in-person experiences between individuals, businesses, and events."

Golf simulator -- With a high-definition virtual golf system, Cayne might also have been able to spend some Thursdays and Fridays at work during last summer's crisis (when he was still CEO as well as chairman), rather than playing outdoors at the Hollywood Golf Club in Ocean Township, N.J. The website for Interactive Sports Technologies says, "Our simulators feature the most comprehensive and accurate trajectory analysis including ball speed, club speed, launch angle, ball spin, club face impact and swing path measurements."

B.S. detector -- With effective B.S. detector technology in place, Bear Stearns employees might have known better than to sink their retirement savings into the risk taking firm. The Gadgetshop offers a sleek silver box about the size of a packet of cigarettes fitted with flashing LEDs and a loudspeaker. Accompanying this is a remote control that will work through walls or up to 30 metres in the open. "We've tested the BS detector in a series of different scenarios. Each time it's come out tops," the manufacturer says.

Posted by Penny Crosman at 09:54 AM

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