Top executives at the hedge fund/private equity group Fortress - which looked at Bear Stearns in January - were excited about the "tremendous opportunities" in the debt and equity markets yesterday, seeing "meaningful discounts" on assets - which happen to include their own stock.

Wes Edens , the former Blackrock and Lehman executive who is Fortress chairman, described the credit crunch as "the mother of all supply and demand imbalances", saying the repricing of assets was "without precedent".