It takes more than a globally competitive economy to have a sound banking system. For the third straight year, the United States finds itself at the top of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as part of its annual Global Competitiveness Report.

“Once the global economy emerges from the current financial crisis, which it will, the countries that do well on our index are those that are best prepared to bounce back and perform well in the longer term,” Jennifer Blanke, director of the WEF’s global competitiveness network told The Financial Times.

And the United States is at the top. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the safety of U.S. banks dropped to 40th this year from 26th in the WEF’s 2007 – 2008 report.

“Despite rising concerns about the soundness of the banking sector and other macroeconomic

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While investors remain extremely concerned about the volatility of the U.S. stock market, the weakness of the American economy and the uncertainty of the global financial markets, last week brought “slight” relief from the excessive panic of the eight-trading-session losing streak.

Bear in mind that each new economic report, earnings statement, news report or trading session represents a new opportunity for fear and uncertainty to reemerge.

Fortunately, next week’s economic calendar remains quite light, although retailers may just weigh in with “doom-and-gloom” holiday predictions.  Earnings season may be weak as well (with even more pessimistic outlooks), so investors should not overreact even if Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), Halliburton Inc. (HAL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and others fail to meet expectations.  Volatility should continue and the days of triple-digit index moves (often up and down in the same day) may be here for a while.

So try not to get so overwhelmed with the

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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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The U.S. government yesterday (Tuesday) announced plans to invest $250 billion, more than a third of the $700 billion congressional bailout allotment, into nine of America’s largest banks in an effort to bolster confidence in the financial system. Similar to steps taken by European governments earlier this week, the government will guarantee new debt and take equity stakes in the participating banks.

The U.S. government yesterday (Tuesday) announced plans to invest $250 billion, more than a third of the $700 billion congressional bailout allotment, into nine of America’s largest banks in an effort to bolster confidence in the financial system. Similar to steps taken by European governments earlier this week, the government will guarantee new debt and take equity stakes in the participating banks.

The U.S. government yesterday (Tuesday) announced plans to invest $250 billion, more than a third of the $700 billion congressional bailout allotment, into nine of America’s largest banks in an effort to bolster confidence in the financial system. Similar to steps taken by European governments earlier this week, the government will guarantee new debt and take equity stakes in the participating banks. "Government owning a stake in any private U.S. company is objectionable to most Americans - me included," U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said announcing his decision to effectively nationalize the nation’s banking sector. “Yet, the alternative of leaving businesses and consumers without access to financing is totally unacceptable.” A government investment of $250 billion amounts to about 25% to 30% of the market capitalization for publicly traded banks, Rajiv Sobti, chief investment officer at Nomura Global Alpha, ...

U.S. stocks yesterday (Monday) staged their biggest rally since the Great Depression – with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring an all-time record 936 points – on a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the ailing global financial system with dollars and on a U.S. government plan to buy stakes in banks.

U.S. stocks yesterday (Monday) staged their biggest rally since the Great Depression – with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring an all-time record 936 points – on a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the ailing global financial system with dollars and on a U.S. government plan to buy stakes in banks. The rally was sparked by commitments from the major financial nations to cooperate in getting the credit markets functioning again, and by news that U.S. officials were putting the finishing touches on Washington’s version of a rescue plan under which the U.S. Treasury Department will invest an estimated $125 billion in nine major U.S. banks, and another $125 billion in smaller financial institutions, Bloomberg News reported early this morning (Tuesday). The White House announced that U.S. President George W. Bush would meet at 7:30 a.m. EDT today with members ...

Morgan Stanley (MS) announced yesterday (Monday) that it closed its long-awaited deal with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (ADR: MTU), giving Japan’s largest financial group a 21% stake in the beleaguered U.S. investment bank. Meanwhile, Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (SOV) confirmed last night that it has agreed to be bought out by Spain’s Banco Santander SA (ADR: STD) with regards to a possible buyout. Mitsubishi UFJ first announced its intention to acquire a stake in Morgan Stanley on Sept. 22, but shares of the investment bank fell 60% last week as credit market turmoil and investor panic gripped the markets, putting the deal in jeopardy. The deal was renegotiated yesterday after the U.S. government signaled over the weekend that it was prepared to protect Mitsubishi’s investment, the The Wall Street Journal reported. In September, MUFG agreed to buy $6 billion in ...

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