Open Thread

September 21st, 2008 10:13 AM

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Congress spends the weekend discussing a bailout.

The Bush administration asked Congress on Saturday for the power to buy $700 billion in toxic assets clogging the financial system and threatening the economy as negotiations began on the largest bailout since the Great Depression...Congressional aides and administration officials are working through the weekend to fill in the details of the proposal. The White House hoped for a deal with Congress by the time markets opened Monday; top lawmakers say they would push to enact the plan as early as the coming week.

Will this indeed be ironed out before the markets open Monday? If so, what will the deal look like, and how will Wall Street react? On the other hand, if nothing gets done, will the markets -- which responded so positively Thursday and Friday to expectations of a deal -- continue their slide into the abyss?