The Wall Street banks seek more capital from foreign investors as Citigroup reports the biggest loss in its 196-year history

This article tries to make sense of the $15bn estimated writedown that Merrill will probably announce with their earnings on Thursday. It covers some of the basics of losses in the cash and synthetic markets. It also focuses on why Merrill may be very conservative in their marks in an effort to make their future performance look better.

Really interesting article about the city of Springfield, Massachusetts trying to be the first government investment vehicle to try to recoup gains from the sponsors of CDOs that have declined dramatically in value. The state's secretary of state has subpoenaed Merrill Lynch.