Traders, investors, savers, and everyday Joes are going to remember these days for many years to come.

The S&P 500 closed down 7.62% at 909, a level first reached in July, 1997.

After seven straight days of significant losses, panic has set in, and it is safe to say that there are buys out there. Strong consumer staples blue chips with histories of dividend growth will outperform the market through the recession. Think PG and JNJ. They’re maintaining their strength through these tough times, and they will likely retain it through the times to come.

We advise you to sign up for RGE Monitor, run by Nouriel Roubini.

We aren’t economists, here at StocksAndMutualFunds.com.

We are investors, and we’re web developers; but we’re not economists.

For real economists, you usually have to pay.

Usually.

One of the best economists in the world is Nouriel Roubini.

He is a professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and he is highly sought after for his advice by think tanks and politicians.

He started talking about the U.S. national debt in the nineties. He started talking about the housing bubble in 2004. He started talking about the credit crunch in 2005.

He’s on top of things in a way that most of us, who work too many hours per week to adequately inform ourselves, can be.

His online service, RGE Monitor (short for Roubini Global Economic Monitor), is available at rgemonitor.com, and it contains a number of useful, if controversial, points of view about the current state of our economy.

Usually he offers his premium service for hundreds of dollars per year.

During this economic crisis, premium services at rgemonitor.com are free.

We are in no way affiliated with Nouriel Roubini or rgemonitor.com, and we only see this as a way to educate our readership in a way that we are not capable.

The legislation currently running through the U.S. Congress will need additional legislation to make it work for the long term. The Paulson Plan is a short-term solution, which will be ineffective come January 20, 2009, when we will have a new president and a new Congress.

It is of unequivocal importance that our citizens take the time to educate themselves about the oncoming economic crisis that this bill is prolonging (not avoiding, but prolonging).

The first step in educating yourself is getting acquainted with Nouriel Roubini’s ideas, particularly his HOME plan, which combines relief for lenders (banks, investors), as well as homeowners.

As web publishers, there are a lot of things we want our readership to do:
— Make good financial decisions about their futures and retirement
— Sign up for brokers we recommend
— Retire comfortably and early
— Protect their nest eggs so that they have something to pass on to the next generation

As citizens of the United States, however, we want our readership to educate themselves about the dangers of the credit markets that are looming beyond bad mortgages.

The crises we’re now experiencing are only symptoms of larger problems described by Mr. Roubini.

We do not make recommendations on stocks, or mutual funds. We just report what’s going on.

This is our first recommendation since our founding in early 2006:

Signup for rgemonitor.com now, while it’s free.

It is an unprecedented opportunity to educate yourself on the potential crises ahead, and an outline for how to protect yourself and your assets during these difficult times.

The Senate passed the Paulson Plan (modified, of course) by an overwhelming majority Wednesday night.

The revised bill contains an increase in the FDIC insured limit from $100,000 to $250,000, ensuring that both presidential candidates can take credit for it. It is, no doubt a long overdue provision, but it was not the idea of either of them.

The bill will move on to the House, where it failed earlier. With such strong Senate approval, the bill will likely pass, despite strong public opposition.

In any case, the markets are poised to rise on this news. The bailout is good news for Wall Street, even if only for a short time.

Long term investors and those nearing retirement will want to look at this as a bup in the road, a bump upward. It may be best to look at strength in the market as a selling opportunity, or a short opportunity.

With the late night and weekend announcements made over the past few months, it is becoming increasingly popular to time the market with short funds, like ProShares Ultrashort S&P 500 (SDS and UltraShort Financials (SKF).

When good news like the Senate passage happens, financials, and the market in general, are bound to react strongly, sending short-focused ETFs downward.

Whether the underlying problems in credit and the economy in general are solved, however, remains a question: what if $700 billion isn’t enough?

There’s a lot of upside to this bill’s passage, but there’s a lot of downside in its wake.

Not professional advice, just some food for thought.

The House of Representatives defeated the $700 billion bailout for the credit market by a narrow margin.

Stocks immediately dipped — the Dow by 700 points, or about 7% — before recovering about 1/5 of the losses.

The S&P 500 dropped roughly 6.8% with 45 minutes left of trading.

Having liquidity in your account at this time is essential, as the buying opportunities presented over the coming weeks may be unprecedented.

The FDIC announced that Citigroup will acquire the banking operations of Wachovia for $2.1 billion.

The terms are interesting in that, while over $300 billion in loans are to be assumed by Citigroup, the FDIC assumes any risk above $42 billion. In turn, the FDIC receives warrants and preferred stock to the tune of $12 billion.

Citigroup Inc. will acquire the bulk of Wachovia’s assets and liabilities, including five depository institutions and assume senior and subordinated debt of Wachovia Corp. Wachovia Corporation will continue to own AG Edwards and Evergreen. The FDIC has entered into a loss sharing arrangement on a pre-identified pool of loans. Under the agreement, Citigroup Inc. will absorb up to $42 billion of losses on a $312 billion pool of loans. The FDIC will absorb losses beyond that. Citigroup has granted the FDIC $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants to compensate the FDIC for bearing this risk.

Wachovia has halted trading, as equity will be wiped out by this deal, and markets are spiraling southward in global response to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Keep an eye on SKF as a reverse indicator of the BKX banking index.

Federal Regulators seized Washington Mutual late Thursday, and was purchased by JP Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion.

With over $900 billion in deposits, Washington Mutual was the nations largest thrift, and is the largest bank failure in U.S. history. WaMu’s significant sub-prime exposure led to its downfall, as it had trouble raising the capital to meet customer withdrawals, according to regulators.

The bank, they said, will be open for business as usual on Friday. The acquisition by better-capitalized JP Morgan, is likely to prevent a run on the bank, but JP Morgan did announce that it will likely sell equity to raise working capital.

JP Morgan has become a leader in the financial merger during crisis time, acquiring Bear Stearns and now Washington Mutual.

Stocks had another tumultuous day, starting up, but the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow ended more than 1% down.

Concerns over the Treasury Secretary Paulson’s $700 billion bailout bill have mired the market over the past two days, and the uncertainty is going to continue until legislation is passed.

Paulson has requested a program that is “not punitive,” while Congressional leaders are likely going to make it difficult for banks to use the new facility, temporarily penned the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Paulson is an old Goldman chief executive, and it is unclear where his allegiance is.

One thing that is clear is that the language being used is the same language that was used when the Patriot Act was rushed through Congress. There is an “imminent threat” to the national economy. Legislators “must act now,” and there is “no time for hesitation.”

As a deliberative body, it is the job of Congress to find the best solution, and work through all possible outcomes. While they rarely do this job well, forcing through a bill on the danger of an immediate threat is no way to handle a banking crisis that is over one year old.

Fed Chairman Bernanke and Paulson smelled this one a mile away, when the first Bear Stearns CDOs were written off in July of 2007 — 14 months ago. That they have waited until the economy is at the precipice of danger is not the fault of ill-equipped representatives.

Smart money is maintaining liquidity and using any strength as an opportunity to sell potential liabilities. There will probably be an upward surge to Dow 12,000 when Congress passes a law, but it is not likely to last. Buying opportunities are likely in the coming nine months: Dow 9,500 will be back.

The Financial Service Authority in the UK banned the short selling of securities until January, when the policy is to be reviewed.

The Dow ended up 410 points after falling as low as 150 down during the day’s trading.

The upside momentum came as rumors began swirling after Senator Charles Schumer of New York proposed forming a new agency to deal with ailing financials. The murky details can be found at the Wall Street Journal.

It would appear that regulators are attempting to set up a holding cell for distressed securities, though they would likely place limits on who or what entities would be eligible for this black hole. It is also not clear how this toxic debt would be handled without negatively affecting either taxpayers or the currency, or, likely, both.

Looking at the actions of regulators over the past months, it is clear that they won’t bail everyone out: Lehman was proof of that. Conversely, the losses of the Reserve Primary Fund (and the subsequent $90 billion in redemptions that followed) caused by the Lehman bankruptcy may lead the to try to bail out everyone. But they will most likely play favorites based on how strong the financials are of the entities involved. JP Morgan Chase, for example, was clearly favored by the Fed during the Bear Stearns intervention. Bank of America, on the other hand, is currently digesting the assets of both Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, so may be at higher risk.

What is clear is that equity is not out of the woods yet, and the jump experienced today was premature. In every bailout scenario (Bear Stearns; Freddie Mac; Fannie Mae; Lehman Brothers and AIG) common shareholders were basically wiped out. Lehman stands as the exception in that it was allowed to file for bankruptcy, thus wiping out both equity and bond investors.

The other thing that’s clear is that the bilout will be at the expense of taxpayers and homeowners, not to benefit them.

According to reports from the New York Times Blog, Washington Mutual has hired Goldman Sachs to broker its sale to the highest bidder. Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC are among the suitors Goldman has been in discussions with, according to the report.

Stock in WaMu, the country’s largest thrift, has suffered a plunge of almost 95% over the past year due to falling value of mortgages, as it was among the market leaders in Option-ARM mortgages. The stock closed Tuesday at $2.01.

AAA-rated Reserve Primary Money Fund, managed by Reserve Management Corp. in New York, held over $780 million in Lehman Brothers debt, spearheading the fund’s two-day 60% plunge to a value of $23 billion.

The only other money market fund to break the buck was Community Bankers Mutual Fund in Denver, which failed due to derivatives in 1994.

Reserve Primary, which had assets valued at over $64 billion as recently as May 31, halted redemptions as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, September 16, 2008.

For more on Money Markets and “Breaking the Buck,” see the FDIC website:
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/fyi/2004/051904fyi.html

For the details on Reserve Primary
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aycQDd9pEdCA&refer=home
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200809161914DOWJONESDJONLINE000750_FORTUNE5.htm