Markets do not like Bear Stearns buyout, and you shouldn’t either

International markets fell sharply on worries we are nowhere near the bottom of the credit crunch. The Dow fell early, then recovered some ground.

Even worse for consumers is the Federal Reserve’s other action. At the same time it approved JPMorgan’s buyout of Bear Stearns, it also cut the discount rate another one-quarter percent, ahead of Tuesday’s regular meeting. Plus, at that meeting, which was expected to consider a three-quarter percent cut, the expectation now is of a full 1 percent cut, on top of the one-quarter percent Sunday slice.

Can you say $120/bbl oil? You’d better start learning how, because Ben Bernanke, The Worst Fed Head Since Greenspan™, is clueless, uncaring, or both, about inflation and its effects on everyday people.

Big Ben gets sharply taken to task here. The rate cuts hurt savers, credit card companies have a bottom line on interest rates beyond which they won’t go, and due to credit concerns, mortgage rates have risen in recent months in the face of Fed rate cuts.

As for the dollar? It’s now below parity with the Swiss franc, the Euro is approaching $1.60, the dollar is falling to near the 95-yen mark and more.