What’s that hiss? Bond sales break record, but “investors” demand higher yields…U.S. budget deficit sets annual record… in just 4 months! Key trading signals from one of our resident options analysts… Data still disappoint… housing, jobs, retail improve slightly, but still in the dumps… Last, Dubai in danger… foreigners flee so hurriedly they’re leaving cars behind…

To ease the ongoing credit crisis and get banks lending again, the Obama administration realizes that it first has to resuscitate the “shadow financial system” that’s dominated by hedge funds and other large-scale private investors.

Citigroup Inc. (C) is lifting the curtain on the $45 billion in taxpayer capital it received, saying it plans to use $36.5 billion to fund U.S. mortgage loans and assist credit card holders and businesses.

BNP Paribas weighs on the euro…  China and Treasuries…  Euro forming a base?  Gold continues its rally… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

The first 100 days of President Barack Obama’s administration officially begin today (Wednesday). But the reality is that President Obama already has a solid head start, as he and his advisor have been working for months to establish the groundwork for one of the most ambitious – and most important – economic-stimulus plans in U.S. history.

After a two-day “holiday” to start the week–Martin Luther King Day today (Monday) and Inauguration Day tomorrow (Tuesday)–it’ll be back to business on Wednesday as Congress begins to grill U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner – the appointment many observers believe to be the most important of the new Barack Obama administration.

No one person is responsible for the credit crisis, the failure of investment banks, the insolvency of commercial banks world-wide, the implosion of the world’s stock markets, or for leading us to the precipice of another great depression.

The U.S. Treasury Department has done nothing to make sure $700 billion in taxpayer-provided bailout money is used to buttress the weak U.S. mortgage market, which was the catalyst for the growing global financial crisis, congressional watchdog Elizabeth Warren said Friday.

The U.S. Treasury has agreed to lend $6 billion to GMAC LLC (GOM), the financing arm of General Motors Corp. (GM), in the latest government effort to keep the biggest U.S. automaker out of bankruptcy.

Mid-East Violence Drives Crude Higher; IndyMac to be Sold by Year’s end; Retailers in for Tough Start to 2009; Six-month Treasury Rate Hits Record Low; Commercial Banks Report $6 Billion in 3Q Revenue