Treasury Departments to Own Banks...

Central Banks Launch Coordinated Attack - WSJ.com:

"The world's central banks launched a large coordinated attack against the widening global financial crisis, lowering short-term interest rates in unison.

Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department is considering ways to inject capital directly into banks, possibly by taking equity stakes. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, in a marked shift in rhetoric, played up Treasury's newfound authority to "inject capital into financial institutions."
...
"The moves likely mark just the beginning of broadened government efforts to keep the world-wide credit freeze from strangling the global economy. 'For all central banks, this is not the end of the story,' says Laurence Meyer, vice chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting firm, and a former Federal Reserve governor. 'We're facing a potentially severe recession.'"

Orderly Withdrawal by Angry Investors

Today's Markets - WSJ.com:

"Despite the declines, traders described the selloff as remarkably orderly and largely free of panicky jettisoning of big positions. Many say that in recent days, the market has been under pressure from small investors who are throwing in the towel after getting quarterly brokerage and mutual-fund statements showing big declines."
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The stock market is acting as if investors wanted the rescue "plans instituted a month ago," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at brokerage firm BTIG LLC. "The things driving sellers are worries -- not an analysis of where these programs will take us in the next three to six months."
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One problem dogging the stock market is that so-called value investors to a certain degree have been taken out of the game. Many of the biggest and best-known value investors wrongly bet as far back as late last year that stocks had fallen too far -- especially financials -- and bought shares. These fund managers are now facing withdrawals by angry investors who are suffering big losses."

The Real Economy?

Today's Markets - WSJ.com:

"'With financial markets worldwide facing growing turmoil, internationally coherent and decisive policy measures will be required to restore confidence in the global financial system,' the IMF said in the report. 'Failure to do so could usher in a period in which the ongoing deleveraging process becomes increasingly disorderly and costly for the real economy.'"

Ex-Solly Trader with Years!

A Street Longtimer Speaks - WSJ.com:

"Earlier this year, nervous investors were phoning advisers with 30 or 40 years' experience, looking for their perspectives on the financial crisis. Now, investors are looking for people with longer experience. Mr. Glickenhaus got his training as a municipal bond trader at Salomon Brothers & Hutzler (now part of Citigroup) after studying economics and graduating from Harvard in 1934.
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Although Mr. Glickenhaus thinks stocks have fallen so far that a short-term rebound is likely, the economy is so weak and the financial system so damaged that a "recession or even possible depression will last for at least five years," he warned. "Eventually, we could get to 9500 easily on the Dow" Jones Industrial Average, a decline of about 8% from Friday's finish of 10325.38."

Crisis of Confidence?

Howard Lindzon: 

"You can’t magically fix confidence. Period. There is no shopping our way out of this mess. There will have to be great leadership, great decisions and some behavioral changes. The ‘brain’ that is the market is pretty pessimistic about that occurring any time soon."

Paranoia Writ Large?

"A slew of new data suggests the credit crisis is deepening as lenders grow increasingly distrustful of their own customers and each other.
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The most worrying aspect of the crisis is a growing reluctance among financial institutions to offer basic loans that are the lifeblood of the economic system. The Federal Reserve said Thursday the situation had worsened over the past week. Its data showed lenders reduced short-term loans to companies by a record $94.9 billion, bringing the total decline to $208 billion over the past four weeks."

Lehman's Demise Triggered Cash Crunch Around Globe - WSJ.com

Lehman's Demise Triggered Cash Crunch Around Globe - WSJ.com:

"Lehman's bankruptcy filing in the early hours of Monday, Sept. 15, sparked a chain reaction that sent credit markets into disarray. It accelerated the downward spiral of giant U.S. insurer American International Group Inc. and precipitated losses for everyone from Norwegian pensioners to investors in the Reserve Primary Fund, a U.S. money-market mutual fund that was supposed to be as safe as cash. Within days, the chaos enveloped even Wall Street pillars Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley. Alarmed U.S. officials rushed to unveil a more systemic solution to the crisis, leading to Sunday's agreement with congressional leaders on a $700 billion financial-markets"

Road Warrior Gear

I have a 17" laptop which I've been carying around in a targus bag that's not much good for anything else except a few papers. It's been hard to find a useful case or backpack for a 17 incher, so I also sling an old "JavaOne" conference bag over my shoulder with all of my gadgets, accessories and notebooks. 

Tomorrow I'm heading down to Orlando for a conference and dreaded lugging both along with my Travelpro Rollerboard. So... on the off chance I would find something suitable, I stopped by the local staples today. Wouldn't you know it, after picking through all the piled luggage, I found the perfect backpack that would hold my HP Pavilion 17" Laptop. The backpack was a Pegasus from Wenger

. I love the Swiss Army stuff. This is the first time I've found one of their backpacks that was big enough. It holds the laptop nicely along with my LinkSys travel WiFi router, Kindle eBook, several notebooks, iPod Video, Pulse SmartPen, Sudoku Books, flashlight, along with assorted cables and accessories.  Perfect!

While I was at it I figured I pickup a travel mouse and noise canceling ear buds. The Logitech VX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse

is nice and compact, with a compartment to slide the USB dongle inside when not in use. When you pop out the dongle, the VX automatically turns on. Nice! I also purchased the Sony Mdrnc22 Noise Canceling Headphones

. The sound quality was excellent, but I won't be able to tell how well the noise cancellation works till I get on the plane, but they did come with a special airline adapter so that I can plug them right into my seat if I plan to partake of the airline entertainment. I'll update this entry once I land.