Postcards

Power Point: Stop the free fall

"I think we can be reasonably confident that that's going to end within the next few months and that you'll no longer have that sense of free fall."

--White House economic adviser Larry Summers, at the Economic Club of Washington on Thursday. Summers compared the economic crisis to a ball falling off the table. Let's hope for a soft landing.

As Summers spoke, a banner unfurled behind him: "We Want Our $$$ MORE

Power Point: It can always get worse

"The biggest lessons from the downturn have been that no matter how bad a position can get, it can get a lot worse. And never be too big in anything."

-- Bank analyst Meredith Whitney in an email to investors. In the note she recaps what she learned during a lunch this week with Goldman Sachs' (GS) president Gary Cohn and CFO David Viniar. Goldman has stayed strong, relatively, as rivals MORE

Most Powerful Women answer Obama's call

On Friday, I left you with a promise: that I'd find something new and proactive to do to answer President Obama's call to "responsibility"--which seems to be the buzzword of his Administration.

I found my "to do" this weekend--but before I tell you what I decided on, let me share briefly what I spent yesterday working on. Carrie Welch, my onetime Fortune colleague and former Most Powerful Women Summit co-chair, and MORE

Power Point: Accountability starts at the top

"We will hold ourselves accountable for what we do, and that starts with me."

-- Citigroup (C) CEO Vikram Pandit testifying before Congress on Wednesday. The heads of eight of the nation's top banks, which have collectively received $165 billion in government rescue funds, appeared together before the House Financial Services Committee to explain what they've done with the money so far.

The CEOs—including Goldman Sach's (GS) Lloyd Blankfein, Wells Fargo's (WFC) MORE

This Week: The best and the worst behavior

This was a week of extreme behavior. From embarrassment to enlightenment. We learned that John Thain, ousted by Bank of America (BAC) CEO Ken Lewis, redecorated his Merrill Lynch office at a cost of more than $1.2 million. People who worked with Thain pre-Merrill tell me that he was not a really extravagant guy. But he was, at times, clueless.

Three people who worked with Thain at the New York Stock MORE

This week: Moves at BofA, Best Buy and beyond

This was a week of transitions. Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton. A little-known Congresswoman named Kirsten Gillibrand, who beat Caroline Kennedy for Hillary's Senate seat and reminded us that power and privilege don't mix well these days.

John Thain's ouster at Bank of America (BAC) also reminded us of that. I met the former Merrill Lynch boss briefly only three times. He seemed like Clark Kent: solid, a bit boring, and cryptic. MORE

Jamie Dimon: No bonuses for you!

"I feel like I'm riding a bronco and holding on for dear life most of the time." That's how JPMorgan Chase (JPM) chief Jamie Dimon described his life last Thursday when he picked up a "Legend in Leadership Award" at the Yale CEO Summit in New York.

No boss, in banking at least, is as candid as Dimon -- as we've learned at Fortune over the years, and the Summit attendees MORE

Power Point: Pay for performance

"Clearly, the performance of Merrill's top executives throughout Merrill's abysmal year in no way justifies significant bonuses for its top executives, including the CEO."

-- New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, in a letter to Merrill Lynch's (MER) board of directors, regarding CEO John Thain's request for a $10 million year-end bonus.

It worked. The top brass at Merrill agreed today to forgo bonuses. The money-losing brokerage, whose acquisition by Bank MORE

Wachovia's Sutton moves to Morgan Stanley

Amidst the news that Morgan Stanley (MS) will cut 10% of its institutional securities employees, you might have missed this: Cece Sutton, Wachovia's (WB) former head of retail and small business banking and No. 33 on Most Powerful Women list this year, is moving to Morgan to be president of its new retail bank.

Pattie wrote about Sutton in September, just as Citigroup (C) was poised to acquire Wachovia--before Wells Fargo MORE

Goldman Sachs-Fortune Global Women Leaders Award

When chaos and crisis are in the air, it's easy to shelve programs that are about building for the long-term future. That's why I'm particularly proud that Fortune and Goldman Sachs (GS) recently partnered to create the Goldman Sachs-Fortune Global Women Leaders Award.

This annual award is a product of the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership, which brings rising-star women from developing countries to the U.S. every May MORE