Christophe Rilinger of RTS interviews Alan Shontz of the CME

Bush - in answer to how high unemployment will go - "too high; anybody unemployed is too much"
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NY FED Offers $50bln via TSLF Options Program
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Bush - ...And I can't guarantee that we'll get all our money back, but it's conceivable we could"
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Bush sat in room 4-5wks after AIG bailout Paulson, Bernanke urged action to avoid "depression greater than the Great Depression"
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LEH's Neuberger sale getting less likely as bond issuance dries up
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Citi will issue FDIC backed bonds; Proceeds for "corporate purposes"
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Dow Futures Testing 8200
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Equities Continue to Make New Lows, S&P Down 7.5% to 829
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Shoppertrak Sees Further Slowing of Sales Levels This Week
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Black Saturday Sales Fell 0.8% Compared to Black Saturday Last Year-- Shoppertrak
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Combined Black Friday/Saturday Sales Increased 1.9% vs. Last Year
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Paulson - Only if we have freedom to fail can we have freedom to suceed; need full suite of authority; need updated infrastructure to deal with CDS
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Shoppertrak's Retail Traffic Index Fell 18% on Black Friday Compared to Black Friday Last Year
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Paulson - we need to get to the place where no institution is too big to fail
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Paulson - some of the things I have been part of have been very, very objectionable but necessary
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Paulson - We don't want to rush to quick conclusion on changes; need to get thru the problems first
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Paulson - so much of the mortgage product was poorly underwritten was done at state level
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Paulson - globally architecture is woefully outdated; more needs to be done there; need to understand global imbalances, huge flows of capital
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Paulson - FED should have macro-stability role; ability to look at hedge funds; there would need to be some charter for hedge funds
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Paulson - very clear U.S. regulatory system outmoded, outdated; lack of authorities to deal w/ non-banking institutions
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