Today, the Dow dropped below 8,000 for the first time since March 2003. This is great news for investors, says J. Cristoph Amberger. “History has proven time and time again that the seeds of wealth are sown during market crises… by buying good companies at crash valuations.”

It is in exactly times like these that Washingtion likes to pass under-the-radar legislation. Dave Gonigam says some ideas floated at a Congressional hearing on 401(k) and pension plans should sound alarm bells among investors. This form The Daily Reckoning’s Desidooru Saloon blog…

Eric Roseman says the Fed will eventually triumph over deflation with by a massive expansion of credit.

These violent market swings can be devastating for the short-term investor. But Jon Herring says market volatility is handing long-term investors a once-in-a-generation chance to buy world-dominating companies at bargain prices.

Consumer spending was flat in the US in August. Adam Lass says this zero means more than the much-hyped $700 billion figure currently grabbing the headlines. The bottom line is consumers are running scared, and that is bad news for retailers and manufacturers.

The buzz on Capitol Hill is that Congress could pass an updated version of the bailout bill before the end of the week. But Shah Gilani in Money Morning says taxpayers are being “force-fed a political solution, instead of a sound economic market-based solution to a financial crisis.” He says the the bailout bill has eight key failings.

On September 19 the SEC suspended short selling for 799 financial companies. Eric Roseman says the legislation targets the wrong traders. He says short sellers make the market more transparent. By blocking them, the SEC is violating the free market.

The US economy shrank in the third quarter, says Bloomberg, and “a further contraction is likely in the next two quarters…which would make the recession the longest since 1981-82.”

On September 19 the SEC suspended short selling for 799 financial companies. Eric Roseman says the legislation targets the wrong traders. He says short sellers make the market more transparent. By blocking them, the SEC is violating the free market.

It’s inflate or die for Western capitalism,” says The Sovereign Society investment director, Eric Roseman. It may take a while but, according to Eric, Hank Paulson’s attempt to rescue the financial system will send inflation soaring and the US dollar tumbling.

Justice Litle says the plan is a minefield for investors. He says there are five things you need to know about the government bailout and what it means for your portfolio.

Wall Street is on its knees this morning. Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) is out for the count. Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) has been sold for a song. And AIG (NYSE:AIG) is living on borrowed time after its stock was pummeled in Friday’s going.

Worse still, according to William Patalon III the wider US economy is sliding into a deep recession.

Have the markets already gone through their inflationary melt up phase? Are they now giving way to debt deflation, in which cash is hoarded and the price of all assets (tangible and otherwise) falls? Well…no.

The dollar has taken a break from its recent climb. It fell 0.5% against the euro this morning in European trade. Nevertheless, dollar strength is big news these days. Could the US downturn be bottoming just as Europe falls into recession?

The federal budget deficit hasn’t received a lot of press lately, what with all the worries about the U.S. financial system, the home mortgage market, and the rescues that might be necessary to save both.