Jim Jubak rounds up some bailout issues

Did you know the 2005 bankruptcy reform changed the rules on derivates? That they can still be sold even if a company is in bankruptcy?

It puts a new spin on some of the Fed’s individual bailouts already in place, as well as the Mother Of All Bailouts now on the table.

And, speaking of that, Jubak calls it the maybe bailout.

On the next page of this story, he explains why many banks are NOT likely to line up for Treasury help.

The result:

So yes, we could actually throw $700 billion at the financial industry and not put an end to this crisis. And it is almost certain that we wouldn’t know for months whether the plan was working.

Meanwhile, Jubak is running a contest for the best of “Save the Derivatives” bump stickers contest.

(In the same column — Hello, John McCain, Jubak says Securities and Exchanges Commission Chairman Christopher Cox is, indeed, one of the biggest contributors to the current situation. That said, you didn’t hear McCain mention this two weeks or two months ago.)

And, derivates’ “insuring” a flow of $700 billion per year, estimated, may be where Paulson/Bernanke pulled that number from.

Oh, if you want to enter the “Save the Derivatives” bumper sticker contest, e-mail Jubak here.