Documents brought to light by key by congressional investigators hightlight real disagreement between top-level U.S. Federal Reserve officials about how it should address the Bank of America Corp.(NYSE:BAC) acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. are almost certain to fuel the ongoing congressional debate over the central bank’s push to expand its authority over the U.S. financial system.

This growing concern manifested itself Thursday, when Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke; was grilled by Capitol Hill lawmakers during a congressional hearing looking into the central bank’s conduct in BofA’s buyout of Merrill Lynch. Bernanke’s failure to resolve some of the most-pointed questions posed by congressional leaders – (especially Republicans) who wanted to discover whether the Fed overstepped its authority and interfered with merger-related decisions – may undermine a proposed financial system overhaul that would imbue the central bank with broad authority over big U.S. financial institutions. One example: In

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Documents brought to light by key by congressional investigators hightlight real disagreement between top-level U.S. Federal Reserve officials about how it should address the Bank of America Corp.(NYSE:BAC) acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. are almost certain to fuel the ongoing congressional debate over the central bank’s push to expand its authority over the U.S. financial system.

This growing concern manifested itself Thursday, when Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke; was grilled by Capitol Hill lawmakers during a congressional hearing looking into the central bank’s conduct in BofA’s buyout of Merrill Lynch. Bernanke’s failure to resolve some of the most-pointed questions posed by congressional leaders – (especially Republicans) who wanted to discover whether the Fed overstepped its authority and interfered with merger-related decisions – may undermine a proposed financial system overhaul that would imbue the central bank with broad authority over big U.S. financial institutions. One example: In

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The three-pronged assault on Congress by President George W. Bush, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. "Hank" Paulson to push for speedy passage of the proposed $700 billion banking bailout package is making headway, causing investors to turn bullish in anticipation of federal intervention. By 10:45 a.m. in New York today (Thursday), all three major U.S. indices had huge jumps, as optimism that Congress would soon come to an agreement on the proposed bailout legislation buoyed U.S. markets. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average Index gained 195.62 points (1.81%), to trade at 11,020.79. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 35.05 points (1.63%), to 2,190.73. And the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 19.61 points (1.65%), to reach 1,205.48. That same optimism had the opposite effect on oil, putting downward pressure ...

It looks as though Hank Paulson's controversial $700 billion bailout bill will make it through Congress. This from Reuters:

Congress is making "tremendous progress" on a U.S. bank bailout bill, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, the chairman of the House of Representative's subcommittee on capital markets, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, told CNBC. An agreement on a bailout bill is "almost an accomplished fact," [...] Kanjorski said.

The news sent US stocks skyrocketing this morning. The Dow (DJI) climbed over 200 points in barely an hour of trading. Justice Litle says there are 5 things every investor needs to know about the Paulson plan.

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