Shares in Lehman Brothers, battered in recent days by rumours of an emergency sale, stabilised on Tuesday after several analysts said what Lehman executives have been saying privately for days: that the rumours are completely bogus.

The problem for Lehman is that similar rumours circulated about Bear Stearns in the weeks leading to the investment bank’s collapse and emergency sale to JPMorgan Chase. Those rumours, mainly that the bank had run out of cash, were also untrue until they became a self-fulfilling prophecy.