From Bloomberg

The stock of GE does not look healthy.

This surprised me.

In my mid-sized city, half the gas stations are closed.  They have run out of gasoline. 

People heard on the radio and television that Ike was going to damage oil refiners and prices might rise.  Today, people were lining up 15 deep at the gas stations, sometimes onto the street, to fill up their vehicles.  Gas prices jumped from ~$3.70 a gallon to over $5. 

Amazing.

From The Financial Times

The default of up to $500bn of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac credit derivatives contracts triggered by the US government's seizure of the mortgage groups could result in billions of dollars of losses for insurance companies and banks who offered credit insurance in recent months.

The Dow closed up 165 points today.  There were rumors all day of an impending buyout of Lehman on the weekend, and at 3:30, it was reported that the Treasury and the Fed were facilitating the sale of the 158 year old broker.  The Dow, which was flat at the time, exploded higher into the close.

Dad!

What does it say about the banking system when the world's savviest investor through one of the best insurance companies stops insuring deposits?

At least that's what the credit default swap market is sayin