During the worst of all possible weeks for Bear Stearns, CEO Alan Schwartz had the worst of all possible times. Because he presided over one of the most sudden and humiliating meltdowns in American corporate history, his personal performance under pressure came under special scrutiny. Above all there was the question of whether there was anything he could have done to forestall the demise of Bear Stearns, which only recently was viewed as being as valuable as it was venerable.