The current financial crisis differs from the Great Depression in many respects. At the moment, the most significant difference is that central banks around the world are moving fast to try to stop the problem from getting worse. Stocks in Asia and Europe are rallying and futures point to a higher opening in the U.S.

Should you sell into this rally? Maybe. It depends on whether you think the world's finance ministers have solved the problem.

What are European central banks doing? The UK is injecting $64 billion into three large banks -- Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, HBOS Plc, and Lloyds TSB Group -- European governments agreed to guarantee new bank debt until the end of 2009, and the U.S. is coordinating with Europe to offer unlimited dollars to ease the credit crunch.

How are markets reacting? In Asia, stocks rose -- Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 7.5% while Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 5.6%. Things are looking up in Europe as well -- London's FTSE 100 index and Paris's CAC-40 are both up 5.4% and S&P 500 futures suggest a 6% gain in the U.S. What will the U.S. do?

The earnings crunch begins in earnest this coming week, with companies from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) to Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) scheduled to report results for the quarter just ended. But with the ongoing turmoil in the markets, much attention is on the tech and financial sectors. This week will provide plenty to mull over on both counts.

Wall Street expectations for tech stocks are fairly optimistic. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for chip maker Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) and software/service company iGate Corp. (NASDAQ: IGTE) to be the sector's biggest earnings gainers of the week. Altera is expected to report earnings of 30 cents per share (up 33.3% from a year ago) on revenue of $355.1 million. Altera had previously forecast flat sales for the quarter, and shares fell to a 52-week low last week. iGate is expected to report earnings of 14 cents per share (up 42.9%) on revenue of $55.6 million. India-based iGate recently spun off its Mastech consulting services. Shares are down 45.0% in the past three months, and also reached a new 52-week low last week.

San Jose-based Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS), on the other hand, is expected to report that net income tumbled 90.4% from a year ago to 4 cents per share, on revenue of $245.6 million. Novellus fell to a 52-week low early last week, and shares are down 44.5% year to date.

Over the past few years, the line between news and spin has grown thinner and thinner, to the point that it is no longer visible, even with the most advanced scientific instruments. In fact, according to most physicists, the line can only be detected by the infinitesimal gravitational pull that it seems to exert on surrounding particles, like faith in democracy, trust in authority figures, governmental accountability, and the inexplicable popularity of Perez Hilton. As a consequence, real-life causes and effects, decisionmakers and victims pale beside the far flashier waves that rustle through the covers of magazines and the ranks of the punditry. In the end, the past few presidents have demonstrated that truth is less important than "truthiness" and events are less important than titles.

In this spirit, the time has come to put a name on the economy's current crisis. As some talking heads have already noted, the Bush administration made a major mistake by allowing the term "bailout" to define the government's response to the economic meltdown. John McCain proposed the term "rescue," which sounds far more noble, while Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson suggested calling it the "Troubled Asset Relief Program," presumably hoping that a really boring title would make taxpayers forget about the issue. Using the same logic, petty thieves are now lobbying to have the term "pickpocketing" replaced with the monicker "involuntary, extralegal, above-market thigh massage."

U.S. investors have just experienced their worst point-loss week in history, as measured by the Dow, as the nation, and the world, implements policies to end the global financial crisis.

In times like these investors/readers turn to the likes of Warren Buffett or George Soros to analyze the financial and economic state of things.

However, today we turn to another trusted source for time-tested counsel, advise, and wisdom: Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra, retired Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees, owner of 10 World Series championship rings, and author of 'yogiisms' -- incisive malapropisms that reveal eternal truths.

After Yogi came out of a hitting slump in the Yanks' pennant-winning season of 1952, a New York newspaper reporter asked Yogi if it was his bad knee that had caused the slump to start earlier that month.

"No it wasn't my knee, it was my head," Yogi replied. "Ninety percent of this game is half-mental."

Readers of this space know that economist David H. Wang, a colleague and friend of yours truly, approaches the economic scene from a unique perspective.

Wang was born and raised in Communist China for 22 years, before moving permanently to the United States in 1989 for graduate school, completing his Ph.D. in economics in 1995.

Of course Wang still talks with family and friends in China, and right now there's this joke making the rounds in the great centers in Beijing and Shanghai.

Question: What's the difference between U.S. President George W. Bush and Chairman Mao?

Answer: Chairman Mao actually put some bankers in jail.

**

As officials and citizens in China, India, Russia, Brazil, and many other developing nations look on, the United States is attempting to end a financial crisis that threatens to severely damage economies worldwide.

In the process, Wang and other economists agree, a number of myths and misnomers -- some promoted by the current U.S. administration, are being dispelled, and we'll review each in the months ahead.

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth and Sleep Well at Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

No one knows what will happen as we stumble through the worst economic mess since the Depression. Yes, it's that bad. We're in a financial maelstrom that is setting new records, bad ones, like 800 points down in one day before rallying back a little to the relief of no one. How will all of this play out? What will be left on the economic landscape? Here's how I see it.

The stock market will eventually stop dropping. Profound I know, but it's a start. What will be unusual is that there won't be a large bounce once the bottom is found. That's because fear and greed drive the market, and fear is so overwhelmingly in control now that greed will have a hard time taking back the wheel of the economic car. As the old saying goes: when fear comes in the room, reason goes out the window. Fear is in the room. Don't expect it to leave any time soon.

No doubt, this week has made it more and more difficult to say anyone should buy stocks at the moment. Even in good, solid, dividend-paying companies. Many analysts and pundits have recommended investors to sell and stay away from the stock market for a while as they don't see a bottom yet, only more declines.

Others believe the bottom is near and investors shouldn't try to time it to buy good value stocks. But it seems they are fewer. It has also become a little more difficult to find stocks our bloggers call a Buy. Still there are a few:

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) -- while AMD stock did not hold up very well recently, a positive development may encourage buyers as this week spun off its manufacturing business.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) -- Apple fans have seen the stock getting pounded the past week, but today it was one of the big winners, jumping 9%. Sheldon Liber notes that "it has not traded at a P/E below it's projected growth rate in years..." Apple is also expected to announce new laptops next week, including a low-priced model to better position itself among competitors.

Costco (NASDAQ: COST) -- Costco reported decent same-store sales this week, and Steven Malls thinks that "Longer-term, Costco will do well."

Nouriel Roubini, the once obscure New York University economics professor who two years ago predicted the current global financial crisis, now says leaders of the world's major industrialized economies and developing countries must implement an 'all fronts' approach to avert a financial calamity and a global depression.

"It will take a significant change in leadership of economic policy and very radical, coordinated policy actions among all advanced and emerging-market economies to avoid this economic and financial disaster," Roubini said on his web site, RGE Monitor.

Roubini urged that national policy makers take immediate action to end the crisis, which has dramatically tightened credit conditions worldwide, constraining the ability of corporations to undertake daily operations, which will hurt GDP growth rates in every region.

And, ironically or by coincidence, leaders will have an opportunity to dialogue and implement a common strategy: officials from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Group of Seven (G-7) nations meet in Washington, D.C. this weekend for their previously-scheduled annual meeting.

I am the Global Editor at MoneyShow.com and each week I interview an investing expert. This week, I spoke with John Snowden, contributor to The IRS Report newsletter, who says the British economy will slide deeper into recession and the markets will move lower, too.

Q. What is your outlook for Great Britain's economy in the next 12 months?

A. We are on the cusp of a recession, but we have yet to feel the real crunch from a retailing viewpoint. The forthcoming all-important Christmas trading period will give more of a guideline by [the middle or end of] January. There is as yet no real sign of confidence returning, which would suggest we are in for a long haul. Borrowings are at an all-time high and will probably double again next year. This may mean higher taxes as well as labor unrest which would be detrimental for the economy.

Lower oil prices do help and commodity prices are falling, and will start to be reflected in government statistics by early next year. Hence, economy fears are turning towards deflation rather than inflation

Q: So, at what point do you expect to see actual recession in the UK?

A: My guess is that Christmas festivities may distort the reality, but I am sure that by February 2009, we in the UK will be feeling the full weight of recession.

Maybe the economy is not quite ready to fall off a cliff quite yet, though it appears to be heading in that direction. At least, that's the message this morning coming from Dow stalwart General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE).

General Electric, whose shares have been pounded lately because of concerns about its financing unit, today reported an in-line quarter.

In a press release, GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt, whose job may be in jeopardy, pointed out that the conglomerate was "on track" to meet its revised -- reduced -- guidance issued September 25. He also pointed out, "We have taken a number of steps to protect investors from the downside risk in financial services, and we have ways to mitigate potential disruptions in infrastructure and media markets, but the environment remains challenging."

GE also plans to sustain its dividend through the end of next year.

"We have big backlogs, great products, stable service revenue, strong operating discipline, an unmatched global position and multiple revenue streams. As a result, the Company is well positioned to perform in a very difficult environment, and our Board has approved our plan to sustain the GE dividend through 2009," Immelt said.

Despite the positive spin, the results were pretty dreadful. Profit from continuing operations fell 12 percent to $4.48 billion, or 45 cents a share, from $5.11 billion, or 50 cents. Many businesses including Global Finance fell by double-digit percentage points. Cash flow from operations plunged 18 percent during the first nine months of the year.

How sad is it that meeting reduced expectations is seen as great news?

The SEC's ban on short selling ended Thursday. This creates the conditions to resume the cycle of value destruction that brought down Lehman Brothers Holdings. What happens is that a threat of a credit downgrade causes a spike in the premiums for credit default swaps (CDSs) that insure the bank's debt. That premium spike requires a collateral call which the bank lacks the cash to meet. This jeopardizes its effort to raise capital and sends the stock plunging -- to the profit of the short sellers.

Enter Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). A few weeks ago, it announced that it would raise $9 billion from an investment from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which is due to close on October 14th. However, the $25 a share purchase price is now about double Morgan Stanley's closing stock price Thursday. If the $9 billion capital commitment remains constant, MUFJ would own 65% of Morgan Stanley rather than the original 21%.

And this morning, a report emerges that Moody's (NYSE: MCO) will put $200 billion of Morgan Stanley's debt on downgrade watch -- helping drive its stock down 27% in pre-market. As happened at Bear Stearns and Lehman, hedge fund clients have pulled out their money and its CDS premiums are up so much that it can't issue new debt. Specifically, Morgan Stanley's 5-year CDSs rose to an upfront payment of 28% of the amount insured -- yesterday it was 19% -- plus 5% percent a year. So Morgan Stanley would pay $2.8 million to insure $10 million of debt plus $500,000 a year.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the safety theme will come back if only because these companies' earnings will be good in six months.

Editor's note: Jim Cramer will present his 2009 stock outlook for the first time at TheStreet.com Investment Conference on Saturday, Oct. 25. Click for details.

Now they come after the Procter & Gambles (NYSE: PG) (Cramer's Take) and the General Mills (NYSE: GIS) (Cramer's Take) and the like, betting that the action will be better in the cyclicals with all of this money being printed worldwide.

Commodities are also coming back because of reflation. And we have to feel that many of the infra and ag names are finally sold out by the hedge fund redemptions.

Here I am speaking of a Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) (Cramer's Take), with its good yield and a belief that the hedge funds are at last done.

I don't buy it. I like a balanced portfolio, but I want to buy the GIS/PG all the way down because we are going into a recession, not going out of one. These companies pay dividends, raise dividends and have great commodity tailwinds.

Colgate's (NYSE: CL) (Cramer's Take) down a lot too, and I am liking that one.

In the wake of S&P's downgrade watch of General Motors (NYSE: GM), which sent its shares down 31% to a 58-year low, the Dow lost another 679 points today. Exactly a year ago, it was levitating at 14,164 -- now 5,585 of those points are gone. In the process, $9.3 trillion in market value has evaporated. And that loss of market value shows no signs of stopping.

A week ago, I suggested that investors who need their funds in the next six years should give some thought to cutting their losses. Since then, the Dow has lost 2,252 points. As a reminder, during the Great Depression, the Dow lost 89% of its value. If you end up losing 40% of your investment instead of 90%, you may look back and think that you were wise to have salvaged something.

Last Friday, the White House signed an $850 billion bailout bill. That bill was pushed as a way to stop a catastrophe. With $3.2 trillion in stock market value lost since then, some might argue that the bill's benefits were oversold. Meanwhile, the short-term cash market seems to have stopped working as the TED spread peaked at 4.14%. I've suggested that a cull and capitalize plan for the U.S. banking system is essential for restoring the functioning of the credit markets. Let's get this started.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in GM securities.

The financial crisis that's constrained credit around the world will slow the global economy considerably and quickly, the International Monetary Fund announced in its October 2008 report.

The IMF now expects global GDP growth to slow to 3.0% in 2009, down from 3.9% forecast in its July 2008 report.

Moreover, economists note it's important to highlight the differences in what constitutes a recession in the developing and developed worlds. Because emerging markets/ developing countries are capable of and require higher growth rates, a low GDP growth rate is roughly equivalent to a negative GDP growth rate in developed countries -- i.e. equivalent to a recession. The average of the two means the global economy can be considered to be in recession when global GDP falls below 3.0%, certainly if it falls below 2.5%.

Worst global GDP growth since 2001-2003

Economist David H. Wang told BloggingStocks the IMF's latest forecast points to a global recession, or the closest condition to it.

"It is a somber report, no question. Many developed nations will now record close-to-negative or negative GDP growth for 2009. Add slowing emerging market growth and a credit market that will be in recovery mode for much of 2009 on to high commodity prices, and it's a formula for the worst global economic conditions since the 2001-2003 period," Wang said.

The IMF now expects the U.S. economy to record 1.6% GDP growth in 2008 and just 0.1% in 2009. IMF 2008/2009 GDP forecasts for other key economies are as follows: United Kingdom, 1.0% / -0.1%; Germany: 1.8% / NA; France, 0.8% / 0.2%; Japan, 0.7% / 0.5%; China, 9.7% / 9.3%; India, 7.9% / 6.9%; Brazil, 5.2% / 3.5%; and Mexico, 2.1% / 1.8%.

This week saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average register its worst losses ever, extending October's reputation as a bad-news month for U.S. stocks. With banks failing domestically and abroad, and Iceland -- Iceland? -- on the verge of national bankruptcy, it's hard not to feel panicky about the state of the market.

In fact, not even market professionals are immune. On a routine visit to my dentist earlier this week, the good doctor informed me my blood pressure is high (yes, he's a very thorough dentist). My first response was, "Have you seen the market lately?"

It then occurred to me how much worse my hypertension might be if I didn't have the wisdom of market veterans to rely on each day at the office. With this in mind, I decided to survey a few of of my learned colleagues here at Schaeffer's Investment Research to see what advice they could offer you in the face of this unprecedented market turmoil.

Ryan Detrick, our senior technical strategist, notes that "It's all about a lack of confidence." (In light of the week's roller-coaster Dow ride, this seems to be the case for both bulls and bears alike.) Detrick explains that it's simple economic physics at work: "When you see banks going under in a matter of days, no one trusts anyone else to lend to them. This, of course, leads to a huge economic slowdown and in a very quick fashion."

However, he says, U.S. investors can at least indulge in a bit of schadenfreude. "The reality of the situation is, Europe is probably in worse shape than the U.S.," observes Detrick. "It seems like nearly every day Europe is bailing out another bank. We've had crises before, but this is the first one in our generation that has spread throughout the globe."

So, with panic sweeping the known universe, what's a trader to do? "Don't panic" seems like obvious advice, but our resident blogger and senior equities analyst, Nick Perry, finds that a bit trite. "I've lost count of how many times I've been told that 'now is not the time to panic,'" he says. "This bothers me for two reasons. One, is there ever really a time to panic? Two, it's like telling someone who's on fire to 'think cool thoughts.' In other words, it doesn't help."