[RawAlex]

Every "saved" bank in failure mode is one more in the "good" column. This whole process is about moving things from the questionable side of the chart to the surviving side of the chart. That creates stability, which is turn will allow at least some of this garbage leveraged position to get worked out. In some cases, it appears that all this loan repackaging and credit combining has lead to leveraged loans backed by highly leverages securities bought with the proceeds of highly leverages loans... and so on. Unwinding it all and seeing what is left will be key to getting to the end of this, no matter how messy.

For online anything, the loss of the credit card base will be a big issue. However, if people do rationalize their lives and get out of band loans and debt and still have a job attached, they might actually be able to keep a functional credit card and go forward.

Housing is looking very interesting. I was checking Las Vegas foreclosures today, the number of properties is insane, but the need for housing is still there. There would appear to be some great potential for buying some of these houses and turning them into rentals, as the prices have dropped through the floor. Units that were pushing $350k or more are now under $200k. That loss of value isn't entirely real compared to the market, but it might take a few years to gain some of it back.

IMHO, at the point that the US has it's election and votes out the last republican't in charge, then things will start to get better. So one more month.