Jeff Brown Weighs in on Market Outlook in 2009

"The year will be dominated by buyers with cash who can move quickly on opportunities," J. Jeffrey Brown of Baker & Daniels told the Indianapolis Business Journal in its story on "Stock Declines Might Make Some Public Companies Vulnerable to Takeover."

"But in a market like this, no companies are actively marketing themselves for sale unless they need to," Brown added.

Not so long ago, the IBJ story reported, most Indiana public companies were firmly in control of their destinies. Now, after seeing their stock prices plunge, many would be little more than sitting ducks were outsiders to launch takeover bids, according to the weekly publication.

The credit crisis and subsequent national recession hit all of Indiana's publicly traded companies hard, the IBJ reported. Forty-five percent of the 64 public firms lost more than two-thirds of their peak stock values the last 18 months - a period that begins prior to the financial meltdown. The story also reported that eight of the companies lost at least 90 percent of their peak value.