Why Are the Central Banks Flooding the Financial System with More Credit? The problem is not a lack of liquidity. It is financial institution bankruptcy, "massive organ failure" as described by Alkaline. Does the action of the Central Banks do any more that further impoverish the citizens of their respective countries?

Its a fascinating problem, though, in that these financial instruments are not clearly "blue sky." There was a story to be made that they were not worthless, although they are perceived as such now. The whole experiment might have been okay if the derivatives had been properly and incrementally tested, like a new drug, or a new website, for that matter.

If this country survives, the regulation should include a financial equivalent of the FDA--an entiity that provides oversight of these instruments and requires the companies introducing them to prove the strength of their value.

when the price of oil made its biggest one day jump in history and the dollar got trashed, again.

The typical reader of your article was convinced several weeks ago that Palin is toxic waste. We're not voting for her, no way, no how. The rest of your readers are trolls, either paid to sound like a moron or are actual morons.

Its the economy, stupid. My guess is that Palin is not that good at 'rithmatic, much less complex derivatives.

Dear American: 

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude. 

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you. 

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe. 

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred. 

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds. 

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

maybe Wall Street CEO's should face something like this:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4810644.ece

Why has there been no talk of requiring the banks to open their books to government auditors so that we can all see the exposure of the banks to derivatives generally and Credit Default Swaps in particular. One investment bankding blogger today reported that there may be as much as $800 trillion in the shadow derivative market and over $60 trillion in the Credit Swap Default market. If the truth is anything close to this, then 800 billion dollar "bailout" is just spitting in the ocean and is not the solution. If the problem is that big, a lot of banks are going to have to fail. I say this knowing that I could lose all of my retirement savings in the carnage.

Chinese regulators told their domestic banks today to stop all interbank lending with U.S. banks. They are building a firewall to protect themselves from our madness.

The National Enquirer is not backing away from its story of Palin's affair with her husband's business partner. The McCain campaign is very angry but has not yet sued the tabloid. The NE has reported that Sara Palin began her affair because of her husband's long absences. The National Enquirer is a rag but its business is tabloid news and it tends to be pretty accurate with that stuff.

The bailout is a disaster and buys only a short amount of time before the financial services machinery freezes up again--for good the next time.

What I am struggling with right now, is where to move what wealth I have in this short breathing space. Will cash be worth anything or will rabid inflation render it worthless? What about real things like farmland, gold, jewels?

Can I save my 401K money by moving it into something even safer? It is looking like the full faith and credit of the US may not be worth anything either, so T-Bills are worthless.

Any thoughts?