Paulson

So we enter this crucial weekend with our fate with Paulson and the G-7. And with the inkling that maybe he didn't really know what he was doing, but he has authority under the bailout plan to do the right thing anyway.

And apparantly a lot of bad will follow if Morgan Stanley or another bank goes under this weekend, as could happen. The Japanese Mitsubishi is supposed to contribute $9 billion for 21% of the company Tuesday but it is believed they would be crazy to do so. MS's market capitalization stands at $11 billion as of the close Friday, after the horrendous selloff of the week.

James Cramer laid it all out last night (Friday night), including the scenerio of the Great Depression, which he says is possible. It took until 1954 for the stock market to recover back to where it was in 1929.

If Paulson and the G-7 come out with good this weekend, we're back to the races on the upside. Their announcement so far isn't thrilling, but maybe there will be more before the market opens up again -- it is Monday, isn't it? Or is Monday a holiday from stock trading as well? I don't think so since nobody talked about it Friday on CNBC.

Soros on Bill Moyers was as usual excellent, if a little blurry. James Rodgers on CNBC hit some home runs and planted a seed with me that Paulson is playing catch-up without a playbook. And seeds of doubt about the bailout thus far. Rodgers sees the very big picture, from Singapore this time. He needs teeth whitening job. Too much beetle juice over there -- or is that only Vietnam?

It appears there was a monumental screw-up in letting "little" Lehman go bankrupt. Not too clear why, but I think because there were tens of billions of credit default swaps that left many other counterparties on the verge of going under themselves. But this screwup, if it was, lessens Paulson's credibility and lends credence that he's playing catch-up without a playbook.

Is it "only" 1987 or 1929? We'll know Monday.

You might click on my "Crash of 1987" blogs infra, as the lawyers say.