LoveLEH Bounce for Fuld & Co.

The big bad shorts really seem to want to put Lehman Brothers (LEH-NYSE) out of business, but could not inflict the death blow today. Hopefully the chance for a Bear Stearns style meltdown has passed for Lehman, and it is possible Dick Fuld's comments mid-day appeared to spook the shorts.

Comparing him to Alan Schwartz might be a little too pat, and he might be tougher to kill than Rasputin:

``The Federal Reserve's decision to create a lending facility for primary dealers and permit a broad range of investment-grade securities to serve as collateral improves the liquidity picture and, from my perspective, takes the liquidity issue for the entire industry off the table,'' Fuld, 61, said in a statement today. Bloomberg

The rally that kicked off about 1:30 PM lifted Goldman about 6%, but Lehman rallied over 30%. The next data point will be the company's earnings tomorrow.But the bears were really leaning on the stock, based on put buying:

Trading in put options of the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm exceeded 240,000 contracts, almost four times the daily average in the previous three weeks. Those bearish bets outnumbered bullish ones, or calls, by more than 2-to-1.

Lehman earnings come out before the open, conference call at 10 AM.

If you have skin in the game, and want to see what Wall Street's "It Girl" thinks about Lehmans prospects, listen into to Meredith's second big interview of the day after the jump:

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Lehman Drops After Fuld Says Fed Eased Cash Concerns
Bloomberg

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