This is a company with off balance sheet debt that is over 60% of its net assets, write-downs that are over 25% of net assets, and after-tax profits that have been declining.
Raising capital, at a time when Lehman is trying to reduce the leverage on its balance sheet by shedding assets, suggests that additional big write-downs are coming.
Well, if you're a bank, that's a big problem, because if the value of your assets is falling and you have to start doing all these write-downs, you know, you can't lend as much because banks have capital requirements.