The government has been seeking to clarify her remarks amid concerns that Britain would have to follow suit to stop savings ebbing away from British banks. But the BBC understands she was making a political commitment that savers would not lose money, rather than guaranteeing unlimited 100% protection. The prime minister's spokesman said: "Our understanding of the situation is that the German government will not be bringing forward legislation for a legally-binding guarantee of bank deposits."

Unlike more expensive delicacies, former prisoners say, the mack is a good stand-in for the greenback because each can (or pouch) costs about $1 and few -- other than weight-lifters craving protein -- want to eat it.

Overnight Libor came down today, to Extremely High from Utterly Ridiculous. But three-month Libor went up: it's now 4.15%, which means that TED's at 334bp -- or as it's referred to these days, "frozen". (No interbank lending is actually going on at these, or any, levels.) ... frankly I'm not sure that even passage of a $700 billion bailout bill will be enough to unfreeze markets at this point.

the U.S. deficit matters for economic and strategic reasons alike. The United States may have more to lose than its creditors if they sell American assets or stop accumulating them at their current pace. This gives creditors potential leverage over U.S. policy. Setser also argues that indebtedness limits America’s ability to influence other countries’ policies, for example through sanctions and lending arrangements.

PNC Financial Services Group, for instance, warned in a regulatory filing it expects to record a "significant other-than-temporary impairment charge"... with an aggregate cost of $80 million... LSB Corp., the parent company of River Bank, reported that it expects to record a non-cash charge in the September quarter... Cascade Financial Corp. warned that it expects to record a non-cash, after-tax charge to its income statement related to its investments in Fannie and Freddie preferred issues for the September quarter. The total potential remaining loss on the company’s investment in the preferred stock is $12.1 million ...

A couple friends of mine from LEH trading desk called me this a.m. to say that mgmt has taken employees aside to let them know that the end should come in next 24-48 hours. Ratings agencies apparently told them that the steps were not sufficient to prevent a d/g, and LEH mgmt asked them to hold off for a day or so to give them a chance to resolve situation (with sale of company). Apparently GS is willing buyer, but is buyer of last resort from LEH's perspective, b/c they would keep very few LEH employees.

"The federal banking agencies are assessing the exposures of banks and thrifts to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The agencies believe that, while many institutions hold common or preferred shares of these two GSEs, only a limited number of smaller institutions have holdings that are significant compared to their capital. The agencies encourage depository institutions to contact their primary federal regulator if they believe that losses on their holdings of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac common or preferred shares, whether realized or unrealized, are likely to reduce their regulatory capital below "well capitalized."