Dave Gonigam discusses the Fed’s efforts to protect Lehman Brothers (LEH) in The Daily Reckoning’s Desidooru Saloon blog. It is a sign of the current fragility of the banking sector that the Fed is now ready to step in to quash any unfavourable rumours that could cause a run in the stock market. And some rumours are truer than others…

So much for $100 oil. The war between Russia and Georgia — which had zero impact on oil prices last week — suddenly has put a floor under oil as the new week begins, at least for the moment.The proximate reason is the shutdown of oil shipments (and all other shipments) from Georgian ports, coupled with Georgia’s claim that Russia tried to bomb the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline that runs from the Azerbaijan to Turkey, through Georgia.