After a chaotic weekend, Lehman filed for bankruptcy and Merrill sold itself to Bank of America. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 504 points on the news (and roughly 20% of that loss occurred in the last hour or so of trading). It will forever be referred to here as “Brown Monday”. And the news is still coming.
Today we find…
- Russia’s market sold off 17% overnight and trading had to be halted – BRICs are doing nothing but crumbling;
- The US Treasury seriously considering conservatorship for AIG – no doubt the idea of losing both the massive credit risk hedges AND a good portion of the P&C market is playing a role here;
- Wilbur Ross says get ready for 1,000 banks to fail – kind of scary even if he is half right.
and…
Adieu.
UPDATE: Almost forgot…folks are wondering whether Blackberry subscriptions will take a hit now that Wall Street has been bludgeoned. Maybe those Blackberry addicts will go back to loving their spouses?