American Express Co. (AXP) today (Tuesday) won approval from the U.S. Federal Reserve to become a commercial bank, giving the credit card titan a crucial lifeline as the risk of defaults runs higher in the slowing global market.

Back in July, Money Map Report editor Horacio Marquez recommended Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX). William Patalon III says the company is still a good buy. It is expected to post strong 3Q results at the end of the month, but its share price has been discounted to bargain levels by market panic.

Lots of kids jump off of cliffs every day, simply because all the other kids are doing it. We call these cliff-jumpers, “portfolio managers.”Every single trading day, the nation’s portfolio managers leap from the precipice of prudence into the abyss of group-think and “closet indexing.” They leap because everyone else is leaping.

The demise of Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) will have a ripple effect in the wider financial markets, says Jennifer Yousfi. Creditors around the world will lose money on the company’s $613 billion debt. And the liquidation of Lehman’s portfolio - a liquidation on an unprecedented scale - will have a market-flooding effect, driving down asset values and stock prices to dangerously low levels.

Oil’s recent wild ride has some market experts questioning which way black gold is headed in the weeks, months, and even years ahead.

Meredith Whitney, the Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) analyst famous for her prescient financial sector calls during the ongoing banking crisis, has downgraded Wachovia Corp. (WB) to “underperform,” saying prospects are “bleak” for shareholders of the Charlotte-based commercial bank.

High gas prices have forced Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) - the world’s largest oil company - from the retail gasoline business, the company said late Thursday afternoon.

Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) analyst Meredith Whitney’s reputation has soared like a skyrocket since she made her bearish - but highly prescient - call on the banking sector, including Citigroup Inc. (C), as Money Morning reported last fall.

Exactly 12 months ago, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at just under $63 a barrel.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) is eying larger rival National City Corp. (NCC), the ninth-largest U.S. bank with approximately $150 billion in assets, as a potential acquisition target, according to several media reports.