Good-bye Wachovia

Good morning. Stocks around the world are under pressure as governments race to prop up banks and save the financial markets. Over the weekend, three European banks required government bailouts and Wachovia is getting bought by Citigroup with assistance through the FDIC.

Congress and the White House have finally reached an agreement on the $700 billion dollar bailout plan. While there appears to be some disappointment concerning the terms of the agreement, the final vote is scheduled for later today and is expected to pass though not by a large majority.

Premarket gainers: FNM, FRE, AIG, C, TMA, JNPR, IMCL, UAUA, LCC, CAL, PPC, CPHD, CSR, GWR, DSL, PPC, & SNDA.

Premarket losers: WB, RBS, XING, LYG, UBS, BCS, NCC, BAC, JPM, MS, NOK, CALM, IDEV, AAUK, MICC, PKX, AAPL, DRYS, TBSI, SNDK, ASML, NVDA, INFY, BRCM, GOLD, JASO, APWR, IBN, YZC, CC, PCX, & SNP.

Beyond the continued financial crisis, there is plenty of economic data ahead for this week leading up to Friday's jobs report. U.S. consumer spending was unchanged in August, which is less than forecast.

For this morning's trade, we have two things to deal with - a potential sell the news reaction to the bailout package and a negative gap open which typically has set the stage for an intraday reversal rally. In fact, we may very well have to wait to see how the market reacts to the final vote of the bailout before we really get a sense on whether a true sell the news reaction will follow. In addition, it will be important to watch whether the first hour lows (probably set right at the open) hold throughout the rest of the trading day.

Go make it a great week!