World markets tumble on Lehman bankruptcy

Asian stock markets tumbled on word of Lehman Brothers bankruptcy protection filing and the takeover of Merrill Lynch. The biggest stock exchanges in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea are closed for holidays, but every market that’s open is deep in the red.
   
Troubled investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings has announced it will file for bankruptcy protection after prospective buyers backed away from a deal. And Bank of America says it will acquire Merrill Lynch in an all-stock transaction worth about 50 billion dollars.
   
One analyst says “it’s better to get this out of the system.“ She says she hopes for the U.S. “this could be it as far as potential failures of investment banks.“