A lengthy post but interesting from a Canadian paper perspective. (emphasis mine)
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Stocks tumble on Lehman demise, takeover of Merrill; TSX hit by plunging oil
Malcolm Morrison, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was down more than 350 points at midafternoon Monday as bank stocks suffered after two more big U.S. investment banks were overwhelmed by the collapse of the American housing sector.
Lehman Brothers sought bankruptcy protection while Merrill Lynch agreed to be taken over by Bank of America.
"The issue is they made this mess, they benefited from the upside, now they're paying the price," said Paul Vaillancourt, director of portfolio strategy at Franklin Templeton Managed Solutions in Calgary.
"They will be allowed to fail, and that's what is really unnerving the markets. It's truly the cleansing that's been necessary after years of greed."
But losses in the TSX financial sector were overshadowed by steep slides in energy and other commodity stocks.
Overall, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 351.76 points or 2.75 per cent to 12,417.82.
New York's Dow Jones industrial average was down 277.97 points to 11,144.02.
The Canadian dollar - pressured by sagging prices for oil and other resource exports - fell 0.76 cent to 93.48 cents US even as the American dollar slid against the euro.
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 57.24 points to 1,550.29.
The Nasdaq composite index was down 43.64 points to 2,217.63 and the S&P 500 gave back 30.94 points to 1,220.76.
Lehman's bankruptcy, caused by US$60 billion in bad debt largely related to the housing bubble, came as investor confidence evaporated after 158 years in business.
Merrill Lynch, the world's biggest stock brokerage, agreed to be taken over by Bank of America, the biggest U.S. bank in terms of retail deposits. The all-stock deal was valued at US$50 billion at Friday's share price, but Bank of America stock retreated $6.65 to US$27.09 while Merrill gained $1.97 to US$19.02.
Meanwhile, American International Group Inc., the largest insurance company in the world, is looking for emergency financing as it works on a restructuring.
Its stock dropped 45 per cent last week and fell another $6.43 or 52 per cent on Monday to US$5.71.
"I think people were hoping that there was going to be a saviour over the weekend and that hasn't happened," said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York. "This is sort of groundbreaking type stuff."
Anxiety about the financial sector prodded the Toronto financial group down by almost two per cent. Royal Bank declined $1.50 to $47.70 and CIBC (TSX: CM.TO) lost $2.51 to $61.66, slightly off early lows as it said it doesn't have "large exposures" to Lehman.
The Toronto energy sector pulled back over four per cent as the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $4.14 to US$97.04 a barrel after hurricane Ike largely spared Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure while worries about the global economy weighed on oil prices.
"I think the markets are just fully focused on the downside - the gloomy global growth prospects and the financial chaos," Vaillancourt said.
"Unfortunately the TSX, with its high sector exposure to financials and commodities, is just taking it on the chin."
EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA.TO) lost $1.90 to $69.79 and Suncor Energy (TSX: SU.TO) retreated $2.35 to $47.85.
The TSX metals and mining sector retreated by more than five per cent with Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX: TCK-B.TO) down $1.21 to $37.80 and Fording Canadian Coal Trust (TSX: FDG-UN.TO) fell $6.42 to $84.58.
The gold sector was down three per cent even as investors bought bullion as a haven. The December gold contract on the Nymex rose US$22.50 to US$787 an ounce and Goldcorp Inc. (TSX: G.TO) faded $1.56 to $29.80.
Bond prices rose as investors sought the security of government debt, a week after the American government bailed out mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Federal Reserve makes its next decision on interest rates Tuesday, with expectations suddenly increasing that it will trim the cost of money to spur on economic activity.
Overseas markets were down sharply in the wake of what some are calling the biggest reshaping of Wall Street since the Great Depression.
The FTSE 100 was down 2.2 per cent, while Germany's DAX fell 2.75 per cent and France's CAC-40 tumbled 3.8 per cent.
Markets in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were closed for holidays, but every Asian exchange that was open was deep in the red. Taiwan's benchmark lost 4.1 per cent.
