Will Kodak File Chapter 11 Papers?

Rumors of a possible filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy papers by the once proud photography brand, Eastman Kodak, sent the company's stock plunging on Wall Street today. Investors dumped the stock like a hot potato when the rumors of serious money problems leaked as news. At one time, Kodak was the undisputed largest brand of film sold, but photography has dramatically changed in this modern video age.

The photography industry has also faced serious environmental rules disputes as well. Chief Justice John Roberts started his legal career as an attorney for industrial polluters such as Kodak, who often would use public rivers to dump their industrial waste products. Kodak has since developed a partnership with another company to reprocess their industrial waste into new chemicals such as polymers.

But, it seems like the advent of digital technology has signaled the end of some older products like Kodak when they weren't viewed by the public as keeping up with the times. It's probably more a false public perception than anything, because Kodak has worked on a wealth of new products over the years. But, some public perceptions are hard to break.

Kodak is rumored to be working on a type of debtor-in-possession financing worth $1 billion that will allow the company to stay open for business as it reorganizes, and hopefully stays around for the future.