Bear Stearns Almost Worthless

'A Brutal Wakeup Call'

Canadian banks moved to tighten their credit belt as Wall Street was rocked by the fallout from the near collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates in a rare weekend intervention aimed at encouraging lending in the wake of the bank's implosion. Yet the rate that banks charge one another for short-term loans surged yesterday. Financial institutions are increasingly concerned that other banks will fail, and increasingly reluctant to lend to peers.