Monday Meltdown?

Dow futures are way, way down this morning as the US financial sector careens toward a ditch. On the other hand, gold started the morning up $14, but it's only up $5 as I write this as the US dollar rallies. We'll sit the morning out -- I may have trading recommendations for my services later.

Source: Chart of the Day/Bloomberg

“Despite all the rhetoric, with the rally in the dollar index, OPEC is still saying `thank you very much,''' Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix Gmbh in Zug, Switzerland, said. “For OPEC, $80 now is the same as $100 two months ago.''

Loss of Merrill, Lehman Signals `Tectonic' Shift in Wall Street Landscape In the biggest reshaping of the financial industry since the Great Depression, two of Wall Street's most storied firms, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., headed toward extinction.

Chance of Rate Cut at Fed Meeting Now Set at 88%

Fed funds futures contracts attached an 88 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by 25 basis points at or before Tuesday's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

URANIUM

Western Australia Set for Uranium Mines as Liberals Win State Government Western Australia's uranium-related companies are set for a boost after the Liberal Party, which favors ending a ban on mining the nuclear fuel, yesterday won the backing of the Nationals to form government.

Toro, Energy Rise on Optimism Western Australia Will Open Uranium Mining Toro Energy Ltd. and Energy & Minerals Australia Ltd. led gains in shares of Western Australian uranium explorers as the Liberal Party, which has indicated it will allow mining of the fuel in the state, won the right to govern.

CRUDE OIL

Crude Oil Falls Below $97 as Ike Spares Texas Refineries, Lehman Collapses Crude oil fell below $97 a barrel to the lowest in seven months as refineries along the Gulf of Mexico coast escaped major damage from Hurricane Ike and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy.

Emerging-Market `Panic' Masks Record Profits, May End With 20% Stock Rally Emerging-market companies, earning more for shareholders than ever before, are getting no respect just as their stocks drop to levels that preceded rallies.

Lehman is Suspended From ICE Energy, LME Metals Trading After Bankruptcy Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, was suspended from energy and metals trading in London after Europe's biggest clearing house declared the company a defaulter.

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