Lehman should have looked at what Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital was doing with the bond insurers: getting the government on board to help your trading position.

The biggest issues facing Lehman are its ever-changing capital needs and its weakness compared to its competitors in investment banking. Lehman claims it hasn’t used the Federal Reserve’s lending facility since April 16. That’s good news, given that Undersecretary of the Treasury Robert Steel emphasized to the Financial Times Wednesday that the Fed’s facility is “temporary.”

CEO Fuld has been with Lehman since 1967, and is the longest serving head of a major Wall Street firm. Both Fuld and Lehman investor, former AIG chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, were born with the Sun in the banking sign Taurus. As a fixed sign, Taurus is stubborn and resistant to change. Transiting Saturn was putting pressure on Fuld’s progressed* Mars in Virgo at the time of Bear’s collapse in March and will make a repeat visit around June 24. Around the same time, Mars in Leo will be challenging Lehman’s stock chart progressed Sun in Taurus and natal Pluto in Scorpio. This is likely to be a long, hot summer of challenges for Lehman and its CEO.

*A mathematical calculation that moves the natal planets forward in time.
Lehman stock chart: May 2, 1994 9:30 AM New York City.
Richard S. Fuld, Jr.: April 26, 1946 time unknown New York City.
Maurice “Hank” Greenberg: May 4, 1925 time unknown New York City.