– Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the two last major investment banks left standing after the carnage Wall Street, have ended the era of investment banking by changing their status to bank holding companies. The change means the two firms can now create commercial banks that will be able to take deposits.

– The move marks a sea change on Wall Street 75 years since the Glass-Steagall Act that separated them from deposit-taking banks. The Federal Reserve will now take over from the Securities Exchange Commission as regulator of the two banks.

– "The decision marks the end of Wall Street as we have known it," said William Isaac, a former chairman of the FDIC. "It’s too bad."

– Concern is growing that Hank Paulson’s vast rescue plan for Wall Street may "crush" the dollar. According to Bloomberg: "The combination of spending $700 billion on soured mortgage-related assets and providing $400 billion to guarantee money-market mutual funds will boost US borrowing as much as $1 trillion […] While the rescue may restore investor confidence to battered financial markets, traders will again focus on the twin budget and current-account deficits and negative real US interest rates."

– For investors who want to bet against the buck, on Friday Taipan Daily editor Justice Litle recommended four real assets set to profit from the death of the dollar.

– Worries are also mounting over the fate of hedge funds. "Hedge Funds Face Chaos," warned The New York Times on Sunday.

Hedge funds usually thrive when markets turn volatile. But Even these fast-money investors are struggling to cope with the wild swings in the markets, raising concerns that some may not survive.

Even before the Bush administration proposed its vast bailout for financial institutions, the hedge funds - those secretive, sometimes volatile investment vehicles for the rich - were on course for their worst year on record. The average fund is down nearly 5 percent so far this year.

– According to the fine print of the administration’s statement on its latest bailout, which will receive intense scrutiny this week, Uncle Sam will buy toxic debt from foreign-based banks with large US operations. Hank Paulson confirmed this on ABC’s This Week program, saying that coverage of foreign-based banks is "a distinction without a difference to the American people."

– The $700 billion figure Paulson has put out as the cost of his latest bailout measure is just $100 billion shy of the $800 billion price tag of the Iraq war so far.

– As the reality of the proposed bailout sets in US stock futures are pointing down. According to MarketWatch this morning: "S&P 500 futures fell 6.9 points to 1,239.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 10 points to 1,729.50. Dow industrial futures fell 78 points."

– Paulson also echoed John McCain’s much-derided view that the "fundamentals of the US economy are strong." Paulson told NBC’s Meet the Press: "I wouldn’t bet against the long-term fundamentals of this country." Although he didn’t specify whether he meant fundamentals such as inflation, jobless rate house prices or the hardworking American people, as John McCain later said he was referring to in his own statement.

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