Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz, Monday: "Bear Stearns' balance sheet, liquidity and capital remain strong."

Alan Schwartz, Wednesday (on CNBC): "Our balance sheet has not weakened at all. We don't see any pressure on our liquidity."

Alan Schwartz, Friday: "Bear Stearns has been the subject of a multitude of market rumors regarding our liquidity. We have tried to confront and dispel these rumors and parse fact from fiction. Nevertheless, amidst this market chatter, our liquidity position in the last 24 hours had significantly deteriorated."

(This morning JP Morgan Chase and the Fed announced they are coordinating an emergency loan for Bear. Bear's stock has plunged from $70 to $35 in a week. Good call by Punk Ziegel analyst Richard Bove, who saw this coming.) (But who also may have helped bring it about by pushing people to flee Bear.) Bear Stearns has been hurt in part by its role as a lender to Carlyle Capital Corp., which is defaulting on margin calls on mortgage investments. The avalanche continues.