Gold, the investment of last resort, reached almost $1000 an ounce on world markets as the dollar continued to sink in value. Oil hit a new record of $110/barrel. Bernacke's $200bn plan to bail out the Street of Broken Dreams--once again--is in effect monetizing securities of dubious value (Bloomberg News: AAA mortgage securities hit 61/100) leading to hyperinflation and downward pressure on the dollar. US banks have no non-borrowed reserves, i.e. they are insolvent.[US Federal Reserve chart,http://benbittrolff.blogspot.com/2008/03/really-scary-fed-charts-march.html].
Update: Bear Sterns the nation's fifth largest investment bank was another victim of toxic mortgage debt, but got bailed out by the NY Fed and JP MorganChase (query: are they the same firm?). The venerable bank confessed its coffers were dry when asking for help from the third largest bank. It's shares lost 50% of value when the market opened. Gold passed the $1000 mark yesterday for the first time in recorded history.