Lehman Brothers (LEH) Deal Could Come As Soon As Tonight

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, high level talks in the Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) crisis continued on Saturday and a deal to sell all or part of the beleaguered investment bank could be announced as soon as tonight.

The report noted that potential buyers including Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) are wary to take on Lehman's mountain of questionable assets without government guarantees similar to the government's $29 billion pledge on bad assets of Bear Stearns given to JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM). This time though, the government is digging in their heels in an effort to avoid putting up taxpayer cash in another bailout. Just last weekend, Treasury officials announced their plan to place Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) into federal conservatorship. Federal officials know there will likely be a backlash if any more bailouts are paid for with the taxpayers dime.

A number of high level government and Wall Street leaders attended an emergency meeting Friday night called by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Timothy Geithner. Government officials in attendance included Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. The Wall Street executives included Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) CEO John Mack, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) CEO John Thain, JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Citigroup (NYSE: C) CEO Vikram Pandit and representatives from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK).

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