Its stock is down over 70% in the past year. It's been the subject of rumors for months. The SEC is even investigating whether short-sellers are spreading misinformation about the company. And now, the Fool community has added its opinion about Lehman Brothers
And that opinion is not good. In an unscientific poll asking which company would be next to have a Bear Stearns-style implosion, the vast majority -- over 44,000 votes -- overwhelmingly chose Lehman.
That's over six times more than struggling automaker General Motors
Is the worst over?
A lot of those votes, however, were cast before the recent recovery in financials. Since its low on Monday, Lehman stock is up over 40%. For the moment, at least, the investment banks have survived another round of bad news.
The longer-term question remains whether Lehman and other downtrodden financial stocks like Swiss bank UBS
Yet many still aren't willing to bet on the beaten-down firm. Members of our CAPS community still give the stock its lowest one-star rating. Meanwhile, among large investment banks, CAPS members show much more confidence in three-star rated Goldman Sachs
As long as housing and the overall economy are still in peril, firms like Lehman will have to fight hard. As bleak as things look now, though, I think it'll take a lot more to force Lehman to throw in the towel.