Wall Street, U.S.A. - Martha Randolph Carr

We are in very strange times. Large financial institutions are shuttering or morphing very quickly, and in their wake, leaving behind even more questions. The two newest, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, waited till Sunday night just before the opening of the world markets to shake off their independence and become bank holding companies.

The Federal Reserve bypassed the usual scrutiny and granted the applications over the weekend in an effort to shore up public confidence, which, after last week, seems like a noble goal on the face of it, particularly after the run on money market accounts. But, not if it's still more plastering over seeping problems, which slowly erodes even more infrastructure.