With High Risk and Cheap Stock, will Bear be Sold?

"As far as who in the U.S. would look to take them over -- there are possibilities but I think every American outfit would say, 'We've got our own headaches'," Sabino said.

Bear Stearns' problems emerged because it has more exposure to the U.S. bond markets than its competitors and has a large mortgage-backed securities business.

It's unclear whether Bear Stearns will be able to survive the "run on the bank" that Schwartz described if customers continue to flee and its businesses deteriorate further.

"JPMorgan might buy it for a dollar. I mean you're going to get a good price. Ultimately you have to ascertain if the assets are worth more than the liabilities," Barish said.

Bears' cheap stock price might entice some suitors to take a risk in buying the firm, some investment bankers said. "Just because someone wasn't interested at $120 might doesn't mean they wouldn't be interested at $34," said one head of investment banking at a U.S. brokerage firm. "Bear Stearns now is under pressure to preserve what assets they have, protect their people, protect their clients.

"They might be forced to sell at a price that would have been unthinkable before."