Friday morning links

TOP STORIES
Policy makers scramble for answers - MarketWatch
Fearful investors dump stocks, bonds for cash - Reuters
Who We Should Blame for This Crisis - Seeking Alpha
Treasury Weighs Investing In Banks - Washington Post
World at risk of a global systemic meltdown and severe depression - RGE Monitor
Oil prices slump as energy watchdog drops demand forcecast - Guardian
FTSE 100 heads for worst week - Telegraph
Cost of U.S. Crisis Action Grows, Along With Debt - Bloomberg

MARKETS/INVESTING
Investors, bankers have lost their faith - USA Today
Gold up as falling stocks spur flight to safety - Reuters
Oil plummets below $83 on global slowdown fears - AP
How to rescue your retirement - MSN Money
Cash crunch may dent commodities boom - Commodity Online
Bank hoarding pushes up gold borrowing costs - Vancouver Sun

ECONOMY
August trade deficit falls to $59.1B - AP
September retail sales plummet: SpendingPulse - Reuters
The Auto Credit Crisis: It's Real - BusinessWeek

HOUSING
Nearly 1 in 6 homeowners 'underwater' - MSN Money
ML-Implode Sued by FHA Seller-Funded Downpayment Outfit - Implode-O-Meter
Illinois Sheriff Suspends All Evictions - HousingWire

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Roubini Urges 1.5 Point Rate Cut to Avert Disaster - Bloomberg
Lehman to Spark Record Payout for Credit Swap Sellers - Bloomberg
Plan B: Flood Banks With Cash - Norris, NY Times
Paulson borrowing a page from Buffett - MarketWatch
Libor for Three-Month Dollars Rises as Cash Injections Misfire - Bloomberg

INTERNATIONAL
European markets plunge again; Nikkei plummets - AP
Fears of 1930s Redux Are Pushing Asia to Action - Bloomberg
Ottawa buying $25-billion in mortgage pools - Globe & Mail
HBOS, RBS, European Banks Slide on Lehman Concern - Bloomberg
Financial crisis: Panic selling piles pressure on G7 leaders - Guardian
Russia Approves Loan Plan to Ease Credit Crunch - NY Times

INTERESTING
Russia's Putin gets tiger cub for his birthday - AP
US debt clock runs out of digits - BBC