As the sky grows

ever darker…


(From Reuters:

Morgan Stanley has held Wachovia talks

By Jessica Hall and Joseph A. Giannone

Wed Sep 17

Morgan Stanley (MS.N), which saw its stock pummeled Wednesday on worries it may not survive the credit crunch, has held preliminary takeover talks with Wachovia Corp (WB.N), a person familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Separately, CNBC reported that Morgan Stanley was having deal discussions with CITIC, the China-controlled conglomerate that owns brokerage firm CITIC Securities (600030.SS). Morgan executives could not be reached immediately for comment on these talks.

These moves come as Morgan Stanley Chief Executive John Mack takes steps to ensure his firm remains one of the survivors of the ongoing credit crisis.

Mack received a call on Wednesday from Wachovia, the fourth-largest U.S. bank, expressing interest in a deal with the second-largest Wall Street firm, the source said.

No deal with Wachovia is imminent and the talks can still fall apart. But as recent days showed, a number of surprising deals have come together quickly as banks and brokers scramble to do whatever it takes to survive the ongoing credit crisis.

Morgan Stanley is considering other options, the source said. Other banks also have expressed interest in a deal, according to media reports late Wednesday.

Both Wachovia and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on whether it was having takeover talks.

Morgan Stanley said it was doing everything it could to help its stock price. "The smartest people at this firm are focused on solutions," a company spokeswoman said.

If a deal with Wachovia did go through, Morgan Stanley would be the fourth major investment bank to disappear from the scene since June as the year-old credit crisis builds momentum. In the past four days, the U.S. financial services industry has been through the biggest consolidation wave in a decade.
…

"Two wrongs don't make a right," said James Ellman, a fund manager and president of SeaCliff Capital in San Francisco. "Hasn't Mr. Market been saying both companies possibly are going to fail? If you put them together, how does that make a better company?"
…

…the candidates weigh in (all quotes for entertainment purposes only.)

Senator McSame leaps boldly into the fray:

“I Can Haz Always Been An Deregulator! Capitalism 4Evah! Wall Street Roolz! You know, back when I was a guest of the North Vietnamese, I too knew what it was to be heavily regulated!”

One of his minders takes him aside.

Again.

Senator McSame (spitting Wall Street’s dick out of his mouth):

“I Can Haz Always Been An Regulator! Populism 4Evah! Main Street Roolz! You know, back when I was a guest of the North Vietnamese, I too knew what it was to be in the hands of unregulated power!”

Assessing the McCain statement, Team Obama meets to plan its response:



And finally, sensing a chance to burnish her foreign policy credentials, Perky Sarah pounces:

Like the people of American, the people of Morgan/Stanley have a proud tradition of freedom and democracy. And should Senator McCain and I be blessed by God to lead our great nation, a McCain/Palin Administration would make sure despots around the world know that America will always stand up to bullies, whether they be tyrants in far-away Wachovia, the so-called “Zappa Terrorists” just across the border in Hispaniola, or the Darwiniosocialist Christ-haters right here in Jesusland.

McSame isn’t the problem.

Palin isn’t the problem.

The fact that on November 4th, somewhere between 58 and 62 million Americans are going stand in line to vote to deliver our hobbled, pauperized nation into the hands of the Party of frauds, liars, Monarchists and imbeciles once again?

That is the fucking problem.