Fortis (FORB) just sold itself to three different European governments. The company lost its deal with China’s Ping An Insurance, and its sale to Deutsche Bank is being held captive by the Dutch Central Bank. But FORB is up 12% today. The hits just keep on coming, but the stock price is still rising.

Yesterday, traders sent the Dow down a record 777 points. Today, the mood is more upbeat. The Dow is up 363 points. Traders clearly still want to believe the government can still help sort out Wall Street’s problems.

Justice Litle isn’t fully sold on the bailout. But he says it isn’t an option to let Mr. Market sort himself out this time: the US is too leveraged to follow Andrew Mellon’s “liquidationist” approach during the Great Depression.

That’s why the feds will do whatever it takes to prop up the system… and run the dollar into the ground. And that’s why you should buy gold now.

In the currency market, the dollar pushed higher against the euro. Late Monday, the euro was trading at $1.4477 vs. $1.4608 on Friday. The British pound was also off, by 1.5%, to $1.8147.

Bailout package is voted down! Biggest one day point drop for the DOW! Dollar rallies hard… Carry trades unwind… Again! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Ready to spend $700 Billion… Wachovia wants to sell itself… Dollar rallies hard… The rot on the vine spreads… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Iran may be part of President Bush’s “axis of evil,” but Taipan Publishing’s Sara Nunnally says it is also a major player in the global commodities market that is now looking to expand its output.

Ambitious new projects to develop the steel and natural gas sectors will dramatically boost production. China and Russia are rushing in to secure supplies. But sanctions prevent the US from investing in Iran.

Sara says ongoing suspicion over Iran’s nuclear program will keep it off the investment table for much of the Western world…