Daily Observations - Day One of Hank's Plan

Because we are treading in uncharted waters of the next week I am going to be synthesizing the arguments for both the bailout and other proposals that are being raised. As the market starts to digest the 700B bailout stocks tumbled again today and oil spiked through to 130 a barrel, an unprecedented event.

The Bush administration is pushing for a "clean" bill to be passed quickly and not be loaded up with provisions that would deter companies from participating.

"[T]he whole world is watching to see if we can act quickly to shore up our markets and prevent damage to our capital markets, businesses, our housing sector, and retirement accounts," President Bush said.

At the same time that congressional leaders are seeking provisions to protect taxpayers and troubled borrowers, financial institutions are weighing in with what they want in the bill. On Sunday, the Financial Services Roundtable - a lobbying group representing the nation's banks - called on Congress to make the plan "broad enough to include different types of assets."

The Treasury has amended its original request to give it authority to buy up not just troubled mortgage assets, but troubled assets period.

"Removing troubled assets will begin to restore the strength of our financial system so it can again finance economic growth," according to a statement on the Treasury Web site.

From the above CNN articles quoted we can feel the flavor of the debate that is starting to ensue. The question remains can we get the bill though Congress by Friday without the "pork" and get it onto action immediately? If we can the markets will settle down.

Let see what happens tomorrow as we ride the crest of the financial wave.