How many hedgies must have shorted Merrill last week? Jesus Christ, the BofA merger is going to tank those dudes tomorrow...

@Yostal: Change the word "or" to "and." That should cover it.

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@Peter Cavan: Your checking account is fine, but don't walk past 7th Ave. and 49th St. tomorrow.

Do [cnn.com] and I inhabit the same physical universe?

WSJ on today's events:

NYTimes on today's events:

@MrRedDevil: You'll be fine. If they go under, FDIC will insure you. I have a worse problem — I have an LOC with them that isn't fully tapped. Should I withdraw all that money and pay interest in the meantime just to hedge against the possibility of them going under and that $$ no longer being available to me?

@StevePerryPsychOut: It's happening. WSJ requires subscription, but here are the first two paragraphs:

@Peter Cavan: You're looking pretty smart. Lehman = bankrupt, Merrill = agreed to be acquired by BofA, AIG = selling off huge chunks.

The financial world collapsed on itself today. Just, you know, fyi.

@Steve_U: Lehman's in midtown. It'd have to be a loud boom.

Sucks to be a Chargers fan today. Also sucks to be a Lehman, Merrill or AIG employee today.

Over the past 15 years, there have probably been more brutal SNL episodes than half-decent ones, so one must be reluctant to label any given episode as the worst ever. But when you combine last night's horrible material with the stiffest, most self-conscious host in memory and add the generally off-kilter direction…

Whatever worked last year, they're making sure to run into the ground today.

@Billy Ds Widows Peak: The point is, an athlete is capable of hosting. You don't have to rise to Peyton's level, Brady was fine, Charles Barkley was fine, etc. You can't watch this garbage and say, well, he's not an actor, so it's not as bad, relatively. It is that bad, relatively.

@Craig Eshericks Mustache: Three things: first of all, this isn't a grade school sketch. You don't get an A for effort. This is SNL and it's on my television, it should stand on its own merits. Second, it's not just the material, which is shit. He has no business being on a stage. He's stiff and he's not giving…

On the bright side, Phelps' natural incoherence actually works with the internal logic of this sketch.

On the other hand, I think the Fey-Scorcese commercial is genius.

Jesus, can we pinch hit for Phelps, like right now? I don't think he even wants to be there.