While essentially this mess is one in which the fed are complicit, I do not believe that they should (to quote a ranting jim cramer) OPEN THE DISCOUNT WINDOW! I believe that would be a mistake and would not necessarily improve the health of our economy. These firms which are taking a bath on the current state of finance, are suffering the consequences of a lack of due diligence. To pretend that we need to save companies such as bear and stearns is silly. Why should the government save a company that failed to make smart money moves. This to me is the markets at their best. The companies that failed to embrace the reality that the market cannot continuously expand at an increasing rate will be rewarded, those who got caught up in the herd will be punished(not rewarded with cheap money jim cramer), not by the federal government but by market forces.