In pressing the bank executives to accept partial government ownership, Paulson's message was clear: Though officially the program was voluntary, the banks had little choice in the matter. In exchange for giving the Treasury minority stakes, the nine firms would jointly receive an investment worth $125 billion. The government would make another $125 billion available for the next 30 days to thousands of other banks and thrifts across the country. null

This is potentially good, but also potentially dangerous. The government stake is good, in that it can be used to block banks from doing things that are insane (credit default swaps anyone?). The government stake is dangerous in the sense that it may now be in a position to force banks to do incredibly stupid things (credit default swaps or massive sub-prime secondary loans?). The next step is still anyone's game.

U.S. Forces Nine Major Banks To Accept Partial Nationalization - washingtonpost.com

So the final results from the Lehman Brothers CDS auction are in, and they're even uglier than expected. Finally price is 8.625 cents on the dollar.

Things are even worse than expected...

Lehman CDS Wipeout

"Investors are just saying, get me out at any price."

That sentence is literally, the start of the run. What happens next is anyone's guess, but here are my guesses for the next week.

Friday the 10th - 300 point rally as some people decide to get back in, and think they're seeing bargains.
Monday - Another 5-600 point nosedive as people have the weekend to find out how horribly they're still exposed.
Tuesday - The DOW dips below 8000, but finishes above for the day.
Wednesday - Panic.

Dow plunges 679 to fall to lowest level in 5 years: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Stocks slumped fast and hard on Thursday afternoon - with the Dow falling below 9,000 - as reports that Treasury's may buy stakes in banks failed to reassure investors amid the ongoing credit crisis.

1-800-RUN is on.

CNNMoney.com Market Report - Oct. 9, 2008

That gave GM a market capitalization of $4.3 billion - chump change for this industrial behemoth - while Ford stood only slightly better at $6.6 billion.

The stock selloff effectively puts these companies on death watch and it is easy to see why.

This would be part of why no one is willing to float anymore loans to them and they had to get a $25 billion bailout last month.

The GM, Ford death watch - Oct. 9, 2008

Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today.

And people wonder why we're pissed off about the bailouts.

ABC News: After Bailout, AIG Execs Head to California Resort

Stocks tanked Monday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling to nearly five-year lows as credit markets seized up and European governments' rush to prop up failing financial firms underscored the global reach of the credit crunch.

Chicken Little: The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Goosey Loosey: Sure Chicken Little, we've heard this story be*WHACK!* What the hell was that?
Chicken Little: That, was the sky. Maybe next time you'll wonder if there really is something going on.

CNNMoney.com Market Report - Oct. 6, 2008

Stocks skidded Monday afternoon, with the Dow's nearly 778-point drop being the worst single-day point loss ever, after the House rejected the government's $700 billion bank bailout plan.

There won't be a deal. Buckle up and stock up. This is going to get a hell of a lot worse.

Black Monday

Washington Mutual chief executive officer Alan Fishman could walk away with more than $18 million in salary, bonuses and severance after less than three weeks on the job, according to the terms of his employment agreement.

That's a hell of a payoff for a temp job at a company that failed. How do I get one of those?

WaMu CEO Fishman might get millions for a three-week job - Sep. 26, 2008

Washington Mutual Inc was closed by the U.S. government in by far the largest failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion. null

Tomorrow's predictions. Between this and McCain torpedoing the financial deal, the markets drop around 500. Join in with your predictions for Friday.

WaMu is largest U.S. bank failure - Yahoo! News