Feds Promise Cash IV as Bear Stearns on Death Watch

This seems pretty serious.

The Federal Reserve invoked a rarely used Depression-era procedure Friday to bolster troubled Bear Stearns Cos. and said it will provide even more help to combat a serious credit crisis.

The action won praise from the administration, with President Bush saying that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was "doing a good job under tough circumstances."

The Fed announcement came in a brief two-sentence statement that was issued as stocks were plunging on Wall Street over worries that a plan to ease a liquidity crisis at Bear Stearns Cos. might not work. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, delivering a speech later Friday, told a housing group he had had a "busy morning." He did not elaborate on the Fed's action regarding Bear Stearns.

"The Federal Reserve is monitoring market developments closely and will continue to provide liquidity as necessary to promote the orderly functioning of the financial system," the board said in its statement. It said members had voted unanimously to approve the arrangement, announced by JP Morgan Chase and Bear Stearns earlier.

Delivering a speech on the economy in New York, Bush voiced confidence in the Fed's actions to aggressively cut interest rates and the Fed announcement last week that it would supply up to $200 billion in loans to cash-strapped financial institutions.

"It was a strong action by the Fed and they did so because some financial institutions that borrowed money to buy securities in the housing industry must now repair their balance sheets before they can make further loans," Bush said. "Today's actions are fasting moving, but the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the secretary of the treasury are on top of them and will take the appropriate steps to promote stability in our markets."

I would put up the opposite of cowbell but everyone freaked at that naked Hillary photoshop Slublog did.

Drudge has all sorts of red-letter terrible news above the headline.

Thanks to jdub.

Feds Promise Cash IV as Bear Stearns on Death Watch&bodytext=This seems pretty serious. The Federal Reserve invoked a rarely used Depression-era procedure Friday to bolster troubled Bear Stearns Cos. and said it will provide even more help to combat a serious credit crisis. The action won praise from the...&topic=world_news"> posted by Ace at 01:59 PM

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