Released 9:30 PM EST Sunday March 16  -  (Want to get news quicker than the daily email?  - CONSIDER THIS ) During the weekend all this happened .....  By the time this is emailed to the group, there is a good chance that central banks in addition to US FED will have made a response before US markets open. Let's hope this is a step towards some stability - Bill C. J.P. Morgan Rescues Bear Stearns - U.S. Pushed Deal To Avert Crisis; A Fire-Sale Price - ... The deal calls for J.P. Morgan to pay $2 a share in a stock-swap transaction ... - WSJ  ------------ The Federal Reserve on Sunday announced two initiatives designed to bolster market liquidity and promote orderly market functioning . Liquid, well-functioning markets are essential for the promotion of economic growth. -  1.  the Federal Reserve Board voted unanimously to authorize the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to create a lending facility to improve the ability of primary dealers to provide financing to participants in securitization markets. -  2.  the Federal Reserve Board unanimously approved a request by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to decrease the primary credit rate from 3-1/2 percent to 3-1/4 percent, effective immediately. This step lowers the spread of the primary credit rate over the Federal Open Market Committee’s target federal funds rate to 1/4 percentage point. ===========  COMMENTS BEFORE THE BAILOUT: Bear Stearns exposed as a bank saddled with toxic sub-prime debt - Telegraph.co.uk ------------ Fed Invokes Little-Used Authority to Aid Bear Stearns -  Bloomberg ------------ On day of Bear bailout, economy's cracks widen - SF Gate ------------ Bear Stearns Says Bailout Bridge To A More Permanent Solution - RTT News ------------ The Bear Necessities - thoughs about Bear Stearns and where they will end up - well written - Roger Ehrenberg -   Information Arbitrage  ------------ U.S. Fed action comes too late to save Bear Stearns -  I’m starting to get the sense that U.S. Federal Reserve ChairmanBernanke-Changed-Course Nov-07  Ben Bernanke’s job is harder than any of us can comprehend. -    Wellington Financial  ------------ How Systemically Important is Bear Stearns? - Felix Salmon - portfolio.com  ------------ Thinking About the Bear Stearns Bailout - David Merkel  - The Aleph Blog  ------------ Why JPMorgan Should Buy Bear Stearns - Ed Kim - seeking alpha ------------ Global financial system braced for ripple effect - ... Analysts said it was almost impossible to know what impact Bear’s problems would have on its clients, its counterparties and on other investors holding securities or derivatives that Bear is trying to liquidate. ...   - FT.com  ------------ Bear Stearns bailout - FP Trading Desk  Discusses: -  Bear’s attempt to blame rumour doesn’t wash -  Was Bear too big to be allowed to fail? -  Fed’s broker rescue foreshadows broader aid -  What happens to Bear Stearns now? ------------ Bear Stearns Situation is Bad - Will it Get Worse? - ... By the end of the day, however, I began to think that this signals that we are close to the bottom for financial stocks. There are a number of reasons.   ... - Trade Radar