After a volatile, historic week on Wall Street that featured Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, Merrill Lynch being bought and the government bailing out AIG, culminating Sunday when the last large independent brokers were granted bank status. This morning futures are lower as investors seem to be taking a breath to take it all in with a cautious eye on the government's most recently announced plan -- a $700 billion proposal to buy a mountain of bad mortgage debt. But it is the dollar that may get crushed following the plan.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) the last of the large independent brokers, have applied and were granted bank status Sunday. Both are down 1.7% and 1.8% respectively in pre-market trading.

According to MarketWatch, several companies left out of the short-selling ban list may ask to be added to the list. Companies like General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) with its financial services unit making up 45% of its business, or American Express (NYSE: AXP) and CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) are a few examples.

Ambac (NYSE: ABK) shares are down another 12% in pre-market trading after closing down nearly 42% Friday as Moody's said it might downgrade the bond insurer's ratings.

Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM) continued its talks with potential buyers amid mounting pressure from federal regulators. The potential suitors are, according to The Wall Street Journal, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and Banco Santander SA of Spain. WaMu shares are down 8% in pre-market trade.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) drew $3.5 billion from an existing credit line, increasing concerns about GM's cash supply. According to the WSJ, GM only took the cash as a prudent action as the it is concerned itself about the health of its banks. However, without the cash, "GM would have been more likely to run into trouble meeting its financial obligations by the end of the year." GM shares are down about 4.5% in pre-market trade.


Analyst calls:
Wachovia upgraded Teva (NASDAQ: TEVA) from Market Perform to Outperform.
Soleil downgraded Dupont (NYSE: DD) from Buy to Hold.
Lazard Capital downgraded Target (NYSE: TGT) from Buy to Hold.