comMITTed to Romney!

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-stock-futures-lower-amid/story.aspx?guid={E9014660-B15E-4876-BE8A-D83DB50C1545}

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) – U.S. stock futures dropped Thursday as the Senate passage of the bailout package wasn’t enough to counter concerns about economic woes amid rising jobless claims and a profit warning from Marriott International.

S&P 500 futures fell 14.5 points to 1,153.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 21.75 points to 1,557.00. Dow industrial futures lost 135 points.

U.S. stocks ended Wednesday with mild losses amid negative auto and manufacturing news after two volatile sessions. The Dow industrials ended 19 points lower, the Nasdaq Composite fell 12 points and the S&P 500 lost 3 points.

The Senate fairly easily approved a revised $700 billion U.S. plan to stabilize the financial industry, just two days after the House of Representatives rejected it.

The House may now consider it on Friday, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

The revamped Senate bill sticks to the core plan developed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to have the government buy and hold toxic mortgage assets, freeing up funds for banks to begin lending again. It gives Paulson the $700 billion in phases, with $250 billion up front, then $100 billion pending presidential approval and another $350 billion pending congressional approval.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it would extend the short-sale ban to as long as Oct. 17 - or up to three business days after the passage of the bailout plan– but won’t make it permanent.

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In the midst of the worst credit crisis in our lifetimes, the Federal government is drafting a plan to get the bad assets off the books of lending institutions around the country in a bid to restore confidence and liquidity to the national banking system. Included in the plan is a move to provide federal insurance to money market funds which are experiencing a wave of redemptions.

~~John Cronin~~

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122177442732653979.html

Paulson Briefs Congress on Idea to Buy Bad Assets From Banks, Insure Money-Market Funds; Stocks Rebound Sharply

By DEBORAH SOLOMON and DAMIAN PALETTA

WASHINGTON –

The federal government is working on a sweeping series of programs that would represent perhaps the biggest intervention in financial markets since the 1930s, embracing the need for a comprehensive approach to the financial crisis after a series of ad hoc rescues.

At the center of the potential plan is a mechanism that would take bad assets off the balance sheets of financial companies, said people familiar with the matter, a device that echoes similar moves taken in past financial crises. The size of the entity could reach hundreds of billions of dollars, one person said.

Another proposal would be the creation of federal insurance for investors in money-market mutual funds, coverage akin to the insurance that currently safeguards bank deposits. The move is designed to stem an outflow of funds as consumers start to worry about even the safest of investments, a sign of how the crisis is spreading to Main Street. There is $3.4 trillion in money-market funds outstanding.

In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission is set to propose a temporary ban on short-selling. It’s not clear how broadly the ban might extend, but it could apply only to financial stocks.

Details of the plan were still being worked out Thursday night and could be delivered to Congress in “hours,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

The administration had been taking a patchwork approach to the financial crisis, putting out fires as they ignited. The new moves represent an effort to take a more systematic approach, after a spiral of bad debts, credit downgrades and tumbling stocks brought down venerable names from investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to insurance giant American International Group Inc. Banks have grown unwilling to lend to one another, a sign of extreme stress, because financial markets work only when institutions have faith in each other’s ability to meet their obligations.

Word of the plan came the same day as the Federal Reserve and other major central banks offered hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to commercial banks to alleviate a deepening freeze in the world’s credit markets. That step appeared to have moderate impact on lending among banks. Meanwhile, a wave of redemptions continued hitting money-market funds, causing a second large fund to shut to investors.

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If this doesn’t, by itself, qualify the craven Democratic Party for an historic electoral defeat, I don’t know what would. With the financial system in crisis, the only action the nitwits in the Dem controlled Congress can think of is to adjourn, stick their heads in the sand and hope by Jan. 2009 the tangled credit mess has somehow magically worked itself out.

Then, if we avoid a meltdown, they will take credit for it. If world-wide markets tank, guess what party gets blamed. Hint: starts with an “R.”

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) —

The Democratic-controlled Congress, acknowledging that it isn’t equipped to lead the way to a solution for the financial crisis and can’t agree on a path to follow, is likely to just get out of the way.

Lawmakers say they are unlikely to take action before, or to delay, their planned adjournments — Sept. 26 for the House of Representatives, a week later for the Senate. While they haven’t ruled out returning after the Nov. 4 elections, they would rather wait until next year unless Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who are leading efforts to contain the crisis, call for help.

One reason, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday, is that “no one knows what to do” at the moment.

“When you rush to judgment, you usually make mistakes,” said Sherwood Boehlert, a former Republican congressman from New York. “This is something you can’t go on forever without addressing, but Congress in a short span of time is best served by going home.”

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