China’s $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp. (CIC), doesn’t plan to open its wallet to foreign financial firms and banks any time soon.

President-elect Barack Obama yesterday (Monday) formally unveiled his economic team, including the nomination of New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy F. Geithner as the new administration’s U.S. Treasury secretary. The team’s first challenge will be assembling an economic stimulus package that could be even larger than the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) the Bush Administration has deployed.

Bailout fuels a rally… How long the rally last?  A slew of data today…  Thoughts from Jim Rogers… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

AmEx Cuts 7,000 Jobs; Oil Down on GDP; Governors Lobby Gov. on Auto Industry; Motorola Downsizes; Kodak Results Less Than Picture Perfect; Waste Management Recession Resistant

In normal times the second-largest U.S. bank failure in history would be the lead story in the mainstream media.

But we’re not living in normal times, says Dan Denning in The Daily Reckoning Australia. What we’re experiencing is a financial quagmire caused by the loud popping of an unprecedented credit bubble.

The collapse of IndyMac (IMB) has been overshadowed by the threat of insolvency at Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). The rescue plan for the twin mortgage giants is nothing more than backdoor nationalization, says Dan. Expect runaway inflation as a result of the government’s meddling…

It’s not excluded that, after having carefully examined the situation, that we could decide to move our rates for a small amount at our next meeting. I didn’t say it’s certain. I said it’s possible.” — European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet.

The trouble with getting older…Big Ben expresses himself…Globalization is no longer a force for good – but a force for evil…the Bear Stearns domino effect…End of the road for Hilary…a new hotline service – made just for central bankers…and more!

In the energy market Tuesday, crude for July delivery collapsed, closing at $124.31/barrel, down $3.45. July reformulated gasoline fell 3.75 cents, to $3.3525/gallon.

Like Cherry Blossoms in Spring… Believe it or not, we aren’t all philistines here at Taipan. Some of us are culture-loving poets with sensitive souls… like our very own options guru Adam Lass, for example. After a new round of falsehoods from Washington, Adam felt the need to express himself with a haiku.

Actions taken by the Federal Reserve to calm financial markets and ease the housing crisis are working, a US government official claims.

“Markets appear to be gaining confidence and the availability of credit has improved modestly,” Clay Lowery, the Treasury’s assistant secretary for international affairs, told Bloomberg. More from that story:

The Fed’s interest-rate cuts and a government economic stimulus package have helped to ease market turmoil and support consumer spending, [Lowery] said.