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Who knows if we've hit a bottom, but here's an interesting fact. According to the WSJ, nearly one in 10, or 876 stocks, trade below the value of their per-share holdings of cash.

When I was in college, Morgan Stanley was the place all of the soon-to-be Ibankers wanted to be. It was the blue chip, along with Goldman, of the NY Investment banking world. A company that once controlled markets is now at the market's mercy.

Many analysts and investor watch dog groups are saying that municipal bond issuers are not providing enough information to their investors. Issuers are only required to file an annual report but in today's market, a bond rating or the material condition of the municipality could change in months.

DollarSavingsDirect raised the rate on their online savings account from 3.75% APY to 4% APY, putting them at the top rate savings rate spot on the BestCashCow rate tables.

This the financial failures are just confined to the US and Europe. The cloud has spread to Japan, sucking in Japense insurer Yamato Life.

The battle between Wells Fargo and Citi for Wachovia is over and Wells is the winner. Citi walked away citing concerns over Wachovia's loan portfolio. Wells gets to greatly expand its banking franchise but also inherits billions in bad loans.

Nouriel Roubini, an economist who predicted the credit crisis said in a speech yesterday that the world is teetering on the brink of a financial meltdown. He offered several steps that he think should be taken immediately to prevent a severe global depression, including cutting rates by 150 basis points, which for the US would bring the Fed Funds rate to 0.

Today, the Fed cut rates by 50 basis points or 1/2 percent. Savings, CD, and Money Market rates will drop as a result.

Today the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and four other central banks lowered their rates with unprecedented coordination. The question is, will it work?

Here's the central problem in the credit crunch that has gripped the world. Housing prices keep falling and the news doesn't get any better. The WSJ just published an article that says that 1 in 6 homeowners owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

We expected it would happen and today Washington Mutual cut its savings and cd rates. They were once some of the top rates in the country but they have now dropped off the rate tables. RIP.

Capital One is offering a $50 bonus for opening a Capital One Savings account and funding it with $25,000 within 30 days of opening it.

I don't wade often into stock speculation but this article in the WSJ caught my eye. It makes a case for buying XLF, the exchange traded fund for the financial sector. Good idea? I'm not sure it is.

It wasn't long ago (three weeks to be exact) that everyone was talking about the threat of inflation. Now as commodity prices collapse, everyone is talking about deflation. The credit crisis has done the Fed's work on the inflation front. I expect rates are going to drop.

Here's an interesting one sent to me from Everbank. They have a new CD product that consists of currencies from countries that have strong balance of payments and positive trade deficits.