Thursday morning links

TOP STORIES
Central Banks Pump Cash Into Market - NY Times
Morgan Stanley, Washington Mutual on the block - Reuters
Ex-SEC Official Blames Agency for Blow-Up of Broker-Dealers - New York Sun
HBOS-Lloyds TSB: Biggest rescue deal in British banking history - Telegraph
Incompetent people forced Lehman collapse:Rogers - Commodity Online
Ahmadinejad Says Iran Will Press Ahead With Nuclear Program - Bloomberg
Greenspan's Folly - NewsWeek

MARKETS/INVESTING
Banking crisis: Investors pile into gold and bonds - Guardian UK
Oil rises as investors eye US financial turmoil - AP
Russell's bad year gets worse - MarketWatch
Bright Side of a Total Financial Market Collapse - Bloomberg

ECONOMY
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rose 10,000 to 455,000 Last Week - Bloomberg
Current account deficit widens to 5.1% ofGDP - MarketWatch
Bush cancels trip to focus on economy - CNN

HOUSING
Sales up, prices down as foreclosures flood Southern California home market - LA Times
Applications to refinance mortgages surge as rates drop below 6% - AP
The Housing Slump Rolls On - SeekingAlpha
California Sees Foreclosures Drop in August - HousingWire

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Fed Prepared to Take Bigger Role in Combating Financial Crisis - Bloomberg
A New Role for the Fed: Investor of Last Resort - NY Times
Central banks aim to boost liquidity - MarketWatch
Fed still has lots of firepower - MarketWatch
Broaddus Says Fed Is 'Close to Limit' in Ability to Lend: Video - Bloomberg
Bernanke: 'We have lost control' - Chicago Tribune

INTERNATIONAL
China paper urges new currency order after "financial tsunami" - Reuters
Global credit system suffers cardiac arrest on US crash - Telegraph
Q&A: Lloyds TSB and HBOS merger - TimesOnline
Reports: Russian markets closed until Friday - AP
Asia Rethinks American Investments Amid Market Upheaval - NY Times
Venezuela's Central Bank May Purchase Gold for Coins - Bloomberg
Italian consumers stage "bread strike" over prices - Reuters

INTERESTING
Nickels Litter I-95 Where Semis Crash, Killing 1 - 13 News
Scientists to count kangaroo rats from outer space - AP