Texas Financier Stanford Charged With Fraud; Trump Casinos File for Chapter 11; Amex and Capital One Defaults Rise; WalMart Beats Expectations; Blackberry Execs Pay Back $2.2 Million; Oil Prices Fall Below $35

If you think the U.S. economy is descending into a bottomless pit, hold off. But if you’re reasonably optimistic long-term, these banks are well worth considering for income-oriented investors.

President Barack Obama’s $825 billion stimulus plan heads to the floor of the House of Representatives this week, with House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, saying many in his party will vote against the package unless significant changes are made.

Judging from recent reports that JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and Citigroup Inc. (C) board member Robert W. Rubin will forgo bonuses this year, it appears that at least some U.S. executives are starting to change their habits, as we’ve long suggested they should.

The 116 banks that are receiving billions in taxpayer-provided bailout money this year actually paid out $1.6 billion in compensation and benefits to their top executives last year – even though the results at some of these institutions were so poor that they would soon have to turn to Washington for a government-engineered rescue.

AT&T Disconnecting 12,000 Jobs; Credit Suisse Announces 5,300; Capital One Puts Chevy Chase in Its Wallet; Argentina Announces $3.9 Billion Stimulus, Jobless Benefits at 26-year High; Dupont Cuts 2,500 Employees; Williams-Sonoma Beats Estimates; Oil Falls 5%

Come Wednesday morning – after the presidential election tomorrow (Tuesday) – the United States will have a new commander-in-chief. The president-elect will face some significant challenges: A weak economy (okay, a recession, given last week’s gross domestic product (GDP) report, which confirmed just how dire the country’s economic situation had become).

There is no way to sugar coat it or paint a rosy picture. This week could be disastrous for the market. Coming off eight straight down trading days, and the largest weekly percentage drop in the history of the Dow, the economic calendar provides no relief.

The dominoes are falling, says Adam Lass in Taipan Daily.

The housing market is still a shambles, nine U.S. banks have failed so far this year, and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) are all but nationalized. What’s more, the world’s central bankers can’t agree on what caused this mess, let along how to fix it.

But amid the gloom and doom, Adam says put options on MetLife (NYSE:MET), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Capital One (NYSE:COF) can still yield triple-digit gains…

Is the bear market dead? Or is it just taking a well-deserved break before hunting down its next victim?