A chronology of the recent global market chaos:

September 14/15 - Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings files for bankruptcy protection; Merrill Lynch to be taken over by Bank of America Corp.

September 16 - U.S. Federal Reserve announces plan for $85 billion (49 billion pound) loan to American International Group in return for an 80 percent stake in the insurer; Barclays buys parts of Lehman’s North American assets for $1.75 billion.

September 17 - British bank Lloyds TSB Group agrees to rescue rival HBOS, scooping up Britain’s biggest home loan lender in an all-share deal.

September 19 - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls for the government to spend billions of dollars to take toxic mortgage assets off financial companies. Stock markets soar.

September 20 - Details emerge of the $700 billion U.S. plan.

September 21 - Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley become bank holding companies regulated by the Fed.

September 22 - Nomura Holdings says

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By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s (ADR: MTU) $3 billion bid to obtain California’s UnionBanCal Corp. (UB) suffered a blow yesterday (Thursday) when a shareholder advisory committee determined the offer price was too low. “The proposed price does not reflect the strength of UnionBanCal’s strong capital position, the superior credit quality of its assets, and its potential for profitable asset and core deposit growth in the current market environment,” Richard Farman, chairman of the special committee said, The Financial Times reported. Soon after the $3 billion offer was announced, investors bid the share price higher. Shares closed at $65.46, yesterday, over $2 more than Mitsubishi’s offer price. The $63-a-share offer, “is not in the best interest of UnionBanCal’s minority stockholders,” the bank said in a statement. UnionBanCal’s majority stakeholder is, of course, Mitsubishi itself. The Japanese ...

Bank of America (BAC) is not a stock that has gotten my attention very often in recent years, but last week after the shares dropped to $47 and the company boosted its dividend yet again, I switching into the bullish camp (from neutral) for the stock.

Back in May, I posted a piece on the Top 10 China plays. While I am happy to report that within 2 months, that portfolio of 10 stocks is up almost 14%, I believe its time for some changes.