Just look at the state of Florida as an example of what you should look for in your own state.
The St. Petersburg Times reports:
At the end of August, the State Board of Administration held more than $8 billion of investments in other troubled companies. The group includes investment firm Merrill Lynch, insurance company AIG, savings and loan Washington Mutual and government-backed mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, many of which continued to drop in value this past week.
SBA officials and financial experts say it's too early to tell how those investments will hold up in coming months or what impact Lehman Brothers' historic downfall will have on state finances.
"It's pure speculation at this point what the value of any securities would be,'' said Joel H. Levitin, a bankruptcy lawyer with New York-based Cahill Gordon & Reindel. "I don't know how anybody could have enough information to put a meaningful value on the equities or the bonds at this point."
In addition to losing jobs,
New York state and the city of New York have investments in Lehman.
Check with your state finance office, with whomever manages retirement funds for government employees, with city finance officials. Were there any public works deals in the making that involved Lehman handling the finances?
