T/A ETF AND INDEX

[capt_jmj]

The housing debacle claims yet another victim. Blood in the streets this AM with the bankruptcy of Lehman, and now Merrill Lynch is on the ropes, which says the Fed should have left well enough alone with the Bear Stearns deal. Hank must have finally come to the realization that he couldn't save them all. These are big chickens coming home to roost from all the overleveraging, mismanagement, and excess liquidity of the last several years, but IMHO will ultimately be good for the market. Of course, that is faint consolation for the Lehman/Merrill shareholders.

Futures reaction is way overdone and already off the premarket lows. Minimal disruption to oil facilities by Ike. Crude is off almost $6/bbl.