by Media Channel

Gee whiz, didn't you think.it would be up, up and away for the markets. The bailout was voted in. The Wall Street boys were happy as pigs in you know what. But then, what happened.? They turned out to be ingrates and the market went down on Friday. There followed a weekend of financial panic in Europe. Soon Sunday turned to what the British call Meldown Monday. Look out below.

Here's the headline: The Dow closes below 10,000 for the first time in nearly four years after a roller-coaster day, according to an early tally.

• Despite afternoon rally, Dow finishes below 10,000 at close
• Oil prices plunge below $90 as financial turmoil goes global

Where was the PLUNGE PROTECTION TEAM today???The NY Times reports: "Since it may be weeks before the bailout bill money is available, some on Wall Street think Paulson will use the $200 billion already earmarked to help out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.''

FT reported: Stock prices collapsed around the world on Monday amid growing fears that the credit crisis would trigger a global recession. The wave of selling swept through markets despite a scramble by governments to tackle the crisis, leading to speculation about co-ordinated emergency rate cuts by the Federal Reserve Bank

ASIA DROPS TOO

Bloomberg:
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From the Wall Street Journal, on Asian markets:

Asian stock markets plunged Monday as investors shrugged off a U.S. bank bailout and focused instead on deepening financial turmoil in Europe.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index hit its lowest level in more than four years, falling 4.3% to close at 10473.09. The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues fell 4.7% to 999.05.

Worries that the financial crisis is spreading to Europe and around the globe sparked concerns over global growth, overwhelming any relief from the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of a $700 billion bank bailout Friday. Analysts say it is still unclear how quickly the rescue package will unfreeze credit markets and shore up the U.S. economy, a vital export market for Japan.

"We haven't seen any positive developments in Europe or the U.S., apart from the rescue plan," said Alex Tang, head of research at brokerage Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong. "But even with the rescue plan, investors are focused on the slowing economy."

Traders were spooked by Germany's announcement Sunday of a new bailout package totaling €50 billion ($69 billion) for Hypo Real Estate, the country's second-biggest commercial property lender, part of a scramble by European governments to save failing banks.

INVESTMENT NEWS: Lehman's Fuld roasted at House hearing

Richard Fuld Jr., chairman and chief executive of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., today told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that his company had fallen victim to a "lack of confidence" and a "storm of fear" that had enveloped the financial services industry.

In his testimony, he blamed the financial services behemoth's Sept. 15 filing for bankruptcy protection on a "litany of destabilizing factors," including "rumors, widening credit default swap spreads, naked short attacks, credit agency downgrades, a loss of confidence by clients and counterparties."

Calling the company's collapse an "absolute tragedy," Mr. Fuld said the investment bank had fallen victim of a "financial tsunami" that is "much bigger than any one firm or industry."

However, committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., was unsympathetic, calling Lehman a company where there was "no accountability for failure."

He added that Mr. Fuld took "no responsibility for the collapse of Lehman."

Mr. Waxman also took Mr. Fuld to task for his generous compensation over the past several years and for paying out more than $30 billion in bonuses to Lehman employees between 2004 and 2007 while steering the company and the economy "towards a precipice."

Citing what he called a "remarkable document," Mr. Waxman castigated Lehman's compensation committee for recommending that the company give three board members $20 million in "special payments" Sept. 11, four days before the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

"In other words, even as Mr. Fuld was pleading with [Treasury] Secretary [Henry] Paulson for a federal rescue, Lehman continued to squander millions on executive compensation," Mr. Waxman said.

Other congressmen were equally incensed.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said he is asking for a special counsel to investigate Lehman's collapse.

"I wonder how [Fuld] sleeps at night," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.

Houston Chronicle: Enron foretold our misfortune

Former executive tells the truth Congress would have heard if it had bothered to listen

I couldn't help but watch with interest as multitudes of employees departed the Lehman building last Monday carrying their possessions in bankers' boxes. It wasn't but 7 seven short years ago that the world watched as employees of Enron departed under similar circumstances. The government regulators are "stunned" at what transpired last week in the financial market. These are the same government regulators who, instead of finding out what really happened at Enron, created a "lynch mob mentality," and no one was willing to hear the truth from those of us who could explain what happened. I can speak from experience because I voluntarily "testified" in front of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. If the hearings had been conducted with the goal of getting to the truth of what caused Enron's downfall, there could have been actions put in place that would have prevented what is happening today and saved the taxpayers billions of dollars.

The only difference between Bear Stearns, Lehman and, soon, AIG is that Enron had a first-mover position. My guess is that the culture rewarded risky behavior that potentially lacked personal integrity by some who saw the warning signs but failed to say anything because of the money they were making. In these recent cases, no one seems to be calling foul play but rather labeling it simply a "liquidity crisis" for the same reasons. This is the very same thing that brought Enron to its knees. There is currently a world financial crisis that makes what happened at Enron seem like child's play. Unfortunately, this current crisis is simply a replay of things that should have been learned from Enron's downfall. Here are the lessons that we did not learn from Enron