It's a market and an economy that's offering few bright spots, so you take them where you can get them.

One bright spot occurred late Wednesday in the credit markets. California increased the amount of bonds/short-term notes the state had planned to sell to avoid a cash shortage, after bond demand proved to be solid, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said he's increasing the note sale by $500 million to $4.5 billion while also lowering the yield range, or interest rate, to a maximum of 4.25%, Bloomberg News reported.

'I wish they all could be California...bonds'

California is the largest borrower in the municipal bond market and no small barometer of lending and economic activity. If ranked as a country, California would have the ninth largest economy in the world as ranked by GDP.

Economist David H. Wang told BloggingStocks Thursday the solid demand for California's bonds should be viewed as incremental progress in public officials' efforts to unfreeze credit markets.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson indicating that the state may need up to a $7 billion loan from the federal government within weeks, because the state is having increasing difficulty funding day-to-day operations and accessing short-term loans, The Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

California routinely accesses short-term loans to remain solvent, but the state, like corporations and other businesses / organizations, is having trouble accessing funds from the bond market due to the credit crunch, The Times reported.

Lay-offs could follow

If the state is unable to access cash, payments to schools and other government agencies could quickly be suspended and state employees could be laid off, The Times reported.

Economist David H. Wang, although qualifying his comments by adding that he has not yet reviewed California's credit profile and cash flow, said Gov. Schwarzenegger's letter is another sign that the "financial crisis is affecting organizations and governments large and small."

"Corporations are scaling back bond sales or seeking other funding sources, bond sales by state governments are being put off, and lines of credit are being renewed at higher interest rates. These are all signs of increased apprehension by banks and other lenders," Wang said. "The financial crisis is getting worse, and we need to put measures in place to address it."

Wang said the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of the rescue package is a necessary step toward that goal. The U.S. House is expected to vote on the rescue bill today, following approval in the U.S Senate Wednesday, 74-25. "The House vote will reduce anxiety in the credit markets. There's a saying that 'a financial crisis is 30% reality and 70% worrying about the other reality.' Well, the rescue bill will address that 'other reality.' "