On Wednesday, gold vacillated between $740 and $750 all through the Far East and early European trading. Gold struggled to tack on about $20 within two hours of the Comex open in New York, but then it was lights out for the rest of the regular trading session.

Stocks stage huge rally, but will it hold? Key levels to watch, and some historic perspective… Libor continues to ease; famous Wall Street CEO explains why credit still isn’t flowing… John Williams on the “true cost” of the U.S. financial crisis, with charts to prove it… Byron King with an “exploding” foreign resource market…. Plus, a stinging critique of I.O.U.S.A., and one thing you must do before voting Nov. 4.

The U.S. government is looking for ways to facilitate a merger between General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC, in the hopes of keeping the once vibrant industry afloat during a time of crisis. But Uncle Sam’s credit card is close to maxed out and a bailout for the auto industry could open the door for other troubled industries to come calling.

This week I am in California giving two speeches to the Financial Planning Associations of San Diego and Orange County. This and next week’s letters will be the broad outline of the speech. We will look at how the retreat of the American consumer will affect the stock market. Has the recent drop (can we say crash, gentle reader?) in stock market valuations given us an opportunity to find value? We look at some very powerful evidence that suggests that may be so.

While investors remain extremely concerned about the volatility of the U.S. stock market, the weakness of the American economy and the uncertainty of the global financial markets, last week brought “slight” relief from the excessive panic of the eight-trading-session losing streak.

Shares of Bank of American Corp. (BAC) fell more than 26% during trading yesterday (Tuesday) as investors reacted to the company’s disclosure that it was cutting its dividend after its third-quarter earnings plunged a stunning 68%.

By relaxing the US financial system’s mark-to-market accounting standards, the government is effectively deactivating the financial “early warning system” that let investors know that a global credit crisis was brewing, says Jennifer Yousfi in Money Morning.

In a bold move to provide stability to the frozen short-term credit markets, the U.S. Federal Reserve yesterday (Tuesday) announced new measures aimed at boosting liquidity and allowing corporations to maintain daily operations. But the U.S. markets were less enthusiastic about the Fed’s new measure. Slight gains in early morning trading quickly reversed course to plunge much lower.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) failed bid for Wachovia (NYSE:WB) would have expanded Citi’s deposit base and upgraded their bank infrastructure. But Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) swooped in and offered Wachovia $6 more a share and Citi’s plan went up in smoke as did it’s share price. But Citi is great value right now, according to Andrew Gordon.

Can I start by suggesting that we start calling this something besides a bailout plan? This is not a handout to Wall Street, it is an investment by the government. The term bailout has rightfully earned a negative connotation over the past year. The purpose of this article isn’t to argue the semantics of “the plan”, but rather to look beyond any plan and what impact it will have on the market and the economy.