♦ How did Hank Paulson's negotiations with the CEOs of the nation's largest banks go down on Monday? There were no negotiations, actually. He handed them a term sheet and told them to sign it on the spot if they knew what was good for them. [WSJ, NYT]
♦ Whether or not the federal government make actually make money taking a take in all these banks is still up in the air. [NYT]
♦ Will the bailout really change the way Wall Street CEOs are paid? Nah. They "will find other creative ways of paying their executives as they see fit." Which means Lloyd Blankfein will still take home tens of millions. [NYT, Bloomberg]
♦ The credit markets thawed ever so slightly yesterday following the news the U.S. government would take a stake in major banks. It could take weeks or months for things to really improve, though. [WSJ]

♦ JPMorgan Chase's third-quarter profits slipped 84%, but the bank still posted a profit to the surprise of many analysts. [CNNMoney]
♦ Discover, Visa, and Mastercard have settled their long-running anti-trust lawsuit. [Reuters]
♦ Linens 'n Things will begin liquidating its remaining stores as early as Thursday after Leon Black's private equity giant failed to find a buyer to keep the company in business. [Dealbook]
♦ A roundup of where Lehman's best and brightest have ended up in recent weeks. [The Deal via Dealbreaker]
♦ Japanese companies have been buying American financial firms at a record clip, which is why Robert Greenhill's Greenhill & Co. is now opening an office in Tokyo. [Deal Journal]
♦ Private-equity firm Carlyle Group has teamed up with a former Neuberger Berman exec to make a rival bid for Lehman's asset management unit. [WSJ]
♦ Shari Redstone, the daughter of Sumner Redstone, says she is not to blame for the family's sale of shares last week. [Reuters]