♦ President Bush turned up outside the White House early this morning to urge lawmakers to pass the $700 billion bailout and a vote is expected later today. Bored today? The full text of the bailout is here. [NYT, WSJ]
♦ Citigroup has agreed to buy Wachovia in a deal brokerered by the FDIC. [Dealbook]
♦ The governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have teamed up to bail out Fortis, one of Europe's largest banks. [WSJ, Bloomberg]

♦ Private-equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman are still moving ahead with a deal to acquire Lehman's Neuberger Berman division, although the deal has been slow going. [WSJ]
♦ Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. are still going ahead with a deal to sell 20% stake in the Wall Street firm to the Japanese bank. [WSJ]
♦ Goldman Sachs is seeking to acquire up to $50 billion in assets from ailing US banks as part of its push into commercial banking. [FT]
♦ Former Lehman exec Bart McDade is the new COO of Barclays, although he isn't expected to stay long [NYP]
♦ The decision to let Lehman fail was the turning point, say some: "In hindsight, some critics say the systemic crisis that has emerged since the Lehman collapse could have been avoided if the government had stepped in." [WSJ]
♦ It's the end of an era on Wall Street. No kidding. [NYT]