Lehman Brothers is officially in crisis mode. Officials from the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York are reportedly on the scene, and that means one thing: Find a buyer now!

Lehman has begun talks with potential buyers, Bloomberg News reports, following the plunge in its stock price and comments from Moody's Investors Service that the firm needs to find a "stronger financial partner."

So who might buy Lehman? The strong buy the weak, and the list of potential acquirers is not very long at the moment.

J.P. Morgan Chase, of course, came to the rescue of Bear Stearns and is not likely to try that again. Goldman Sachs has been the rumor du jour on several blogs, but Reuters reports that sources say that Goldman is not interested. B

Both the Wall Street Journal and CNBC are reporting that Bank of America has had preliminary discussions about a possible deal. The giant bank could certainly afford Lehman, but it is a surprising suitor given that a) BofA is already engaged in the process of integrating another troubled financial firm, mortgage lender Countrywide Financial and b) Ken Lewis, the bank's C.E.O., last talked about the investment banking business in the same way that people politely make reference to the fact that sewage has flooded their basement.

Who's left?

Big overseas banks primarily. At any other time, the market plight of Lehman would be a great opportunity for a foreign bank looking to become a major player in U.S. investment banking. In this time of uncertainty, no one seems likely to take the risk.

HSBC has been seen as a possible suitor, but a top Asian executive of the bank recently sought to pour cold water on an approach. Likewise, Barclays of Britain could be a good combination, but Bob Diamond, the president of the Barclays investment-banking unit, tried to discourage such speculation earlier this summer.

The big Japanese banks have huge cash war chests, but having been burned before on Wall Street, are more likely to use that for overseas acquisitions of commercial and regional banks. Still, a Japanese newspaper said last week that Nomura Holdings was interested in Lehman.

And what about Blackstone Group? Founders Steve Schwarzman and Pete Peterson are Lehman alumni. Lehman's investment-management business would greatly bolster Blackstone's asset-management business and would accelerate its push to diversify beyond buyout funds. Blackstone would become in one stroke a full-fledged major Wall Street firm.

Or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.? If the firm is planning to go public anyway, and is already bidding for a majority stake in Lehman's investment management business, why not go whole hog?