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It's the sale of the century - Bear Stearns, worth $140 billion before the credit crisis, has been snapped up for $236 million (yes million) by rival JP Morgan. It's been a tale of woe for the credit crisis hit Wall Street stalwart who last week required emergency support to avoid insolvency. The news has shaken the global financial markets with all major stock indices plummeting in early trading. Start smashing up your piggy banks and fishing down the back of the sofa - with any luck you'll be able to scrape together enough to buy your very own investment bank.

Bear Stearns was being touted as the US Northern Rock. Weary to head off a contagion that could have spread through the banking sector, the Fed swooped in to broker the deal which sees JPM pick up the ailing bank for a fraction (one fifteenth) of the $3.54 billion it was valued at when the market closed on Friday. Talk about a fire sale. The Fed further sweetened the pill by guaranteeing $30 billion of the Bear's less liquid assets and cutting its discount rate to 3.25%.

Rumours and suspicion are swirling round the market this morning with players wondering which other financial firms are teetering on the brink. The financial sector is taking a pummelling at the moment in the absence of hard facts. Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers both report this week with further write-downs and disappointing first quarter results predicted by some analysts.

And tomorrow the whole market will be waiting with baited breath for the Fed's interest rate decision. Many think a 75 basis point cut to 2.25% is the most likely outcome although Citigroup analysts last week thought a cut of 100 basis points might be on the cards. Whichever, it's clear that the Fed is fighting tooth and nail to bail out the US economy. The problem is rates can only go down so far and the pain of too cheap credit has to be felt sooner or later. The Fed is clearly worried and is pulling out all the stops to prevent the money markets freezing up and causing a banking crisis.

The aftershocks of the weekend's events are being felt far and wide. The FTSE was off 2% in early trading as general pessimism spreads across the pond. Inflation figures tomorrow should have a significant impact on the outlook for the UK economy.

Similarly, the Dollar is weaker than a kitten as a result of the US downturn and interest rate expectations. It hit a 12 year low of 95.72 against the Yen and set a new record low against the Euro, with one Euro buying $1.5903. Dollar valued commodities are seeing a boost as a result with gold going over $1000 per troy ounce last week and oil above $111 per barrel. In uncertain times, investors money flows to those commodities they think will hold their value the best.

Don't shoot the messenger but things are not looking good. But don't let that bother you - ChoiceOdds offers a range of bets that give you a chance to make money in a falling or a rising market. Cash in on an exciting market at ChoiceOdds.com.

The FTSE has lost 12.78% since the start of the year.

Tuesday and Wednesday last week saw the DAX rise more than 50 points. That is only the second time that has happened on consecutive days this year.

Last Friday was the 16th day this year when the DOW has fallen more than 1% in value.

The pre-decimal British currency system was derived from the weight of precious metal to which the money was equivalent in value. Thus a penny represented a 'pennyweight' of silver and a pound a troy pound of sterling silver.

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