VOTERS TURN TO OBAMA DURING ECONOMIC STORM

Barack Obama has surged to a 5 point lead over John McCain in the latest Gallup Daily poll. Following one of the most volatile weeks in Wall Street history, voters clearly doubt McCain's ability to steer the U.S. economy toward a recovery.

Legislators will meet next week to push through a multi-pronged government rescue effort aimed at calming markets and restoring investor confidence.

In the meantime, the Republican administration has essentially put free-market capitalism on a time out, bringing billions of dollars of private enterprise onto the U.S. balance sheet, and outlawing short sales of financial companies.

We'll see next week if this last-gasp effort on behalf of regulators helps soothe the markets.