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Ebbers DIDN'T give in to the extortion, apparently. Here is the pertinent passage from the article:

Way back in 1998 when the economy still was new, WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers was clinching his acquisition of long-distance giant MCI, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson had a bone to pick with him. Speaking at Tougaloo College--a cradle of the civil rights movement located near Clinton, Miss., where WorldCom is headquartered--Jackson rhetorically asked his audience why Ebbers could afford $37 billion for MCI but hadn't donated funds to local black students. Ebbers wasn't present, but LeRoy Walker Jr., a leading black businessman and Tougaloo board member, pulled Jackson aside to set him straight: Ebbers had given Tougaloo more than $1 million along with new information technology. Ebbers had also helped Walker purchase a country club and computers to be used by disadvantaged black youth. "Bernie Ebbers," Walker told Jackson, "is my mentor."

Jackson was won over: yet another of Ebbers' conquests.

Bear markets need exhaustion selling before they can be over.Where everyone throws in the towel, and the consensus is that things will never get better.Confidence must be shaken badly so there is no one left to sell :-)

This is how it is, and how it always has been.I've seen 6 bear markets in the past 20 yrs, and the news always follows the trend.The news piles onto where the price was going to go anyway, and it helps to clean out weak holders of stock.It also applies in a bull market.A stock, or market, is going to go where it's going to go, as trite as that sounds :-)

This is also the period where major cycle lows are to be expected, so selling into a low is normal.A re-test of the Sept lows is normal.What has to be watched is how the market holds or doesn't hold the Sept lows.If it does hold, then you need to look for signs of a new bull market, and the action of leading stocks will tell you how sustainable a rally is.That is the ONLY guide that can determine how strong the foundation is in the market.That may take 8 weeks after a low is made to know whether it is durable or not.

The more I read, the more I smell a rat.

Consider:

Enron goes south. Major oil firm Arthur Andersen is the accounting firm. Demonflops are found to be heavy investors. UOx42 Administration is at the center of some sweetheart deals, though no absolute connection is found. Demonflop party gets heavy donations from the firm.

Global Crossing goes south. Major international telecom firm. Don't know who is the accountant, but believe it was Andersen. Demonflops are found to be heavy investors. UOx42 Administration is at the center of some sweetheart deals, though no absolute connection is found. Demonflop party gets heavy donations from the firm.

Now WorldCom is going south. Major domestic and international telecom firm. Arthur Andersen is the accoutant. It will be learned who were the heavy investors. It will be learned whether there were any deals. Republicans were main donation beneficiary, but the sums given to demonflops account for huge dollar figures.