On Saturday, the Bush administration proposed granting the Treasury Department the ability to buy up to $700 billion in distressed mortgage-related assets from private firms. The proposal would raise the national debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion. The government also put together a plan that makes investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley holding companies, giving them access to Federal Reserve Bank of New York funds and putting them under stricter regulations. Mayor Bloomberg called for more transparency on Wall Street in his appearance on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Some of the winners amongst the Wall Street chaos include J.P Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup, all poised to rule investment banking because of their easy access to vaults of deposits. Boutique firms, like Lazard and Evercore Partners, are seizing clients and staff from fallen rivals. And, nationwide, financial companies have announced 103,000 layoffs this year. TRD