Wednesday morning links

TOP STORIES
Berkshire buying $5 billion stake in Goldman Sachs - AP
Congress Objects to Lack of Help Aimed at Homeowners - NY Times
Pricing mortgage-backed securities will be tough - USA Today
Key finance firms 'probed by FBI' - BBC
US Treasuries: Will foreign investors remain buyers? - Telegraph
Issue Is Payback, Not Bailout - NY Times
$700 billion: America, the bailout nation - Commodity Online

MARKETS/INVESTING
Oil rises $2 on U.S. fuel supply concerns - Reuters
How to retire in bad times - MSN Money
Pickens Funds Down About $1 Billion - WSJ
India gold firm as demand recedes, dips eyed - Reuters

ECONOMY
U.S. August Existing Home Sales Fall 2.2% to 4.91 Million Rate - Bloomberg
UCLA economists issue gloomy California forecast - LA Times
Economy Overshadows Bush’s Agenda as His Term Winds Down - NY Times
Bill Clinton on Fixing the Economic Crisis - BusinessWeek
US mortgage mortgage applications fell in latest week - Reuters

HOUSING
UCLA says short sales ‘hijack’ housing’s future - OC Register
Home buyers get cold feet - CNN/Money
U.S. Home Prices Continue to Tumble: OFHEO - Housing Wire

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Henry Paulson, Socialist - Slate
Money-Market Rate Climbs as Bank Funding Constraints Worsen - Bloomberg
The Mother Of All Interventions - Washington Post
Market crisis calls for a shock to the Fed - Globe & Mail
Bernanke Tosses Script, Discusses Asset Pricing - HousingWire
Bailout Is About Saving Credit Flow, Not Banks - Bloomberg

INTERNATIONAL
Does the US face a full-scale run on its currency? - Telegraph UK
Get Shorty: The man who has bet £800m against British banks - Guardian UK
China's Small Investors Get Pummeled - Washington Post
Putin, Not Just Paulson, Setting Decade's Course - Bloomberg
Euro recession fears grow as business morale dips - Reuters
Hong Kong bank BEA reassures panicked customers - Telegraph

INTERESTING
Unexpectedly, Las Vegas hit by downturn - AP
Wall Street's Bust Tests `Recession-Proof' Macau - Bloomberg