FINANCE
• The Dow’s fall yesterday convinced some traders that terrorists had attacked the city once again. “Our first thought was that they blew up Grand Central, or the Empire State building, or the GW,” one said. [DealBreaker]
• Adding insult to sell-off, Merrill Lynch slugged five big banks with a lowered rating, downgrading Goldman, Lehman, Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse to neutral from buy. [Bloomberg]
• Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein says that the market for buyouts will cool. “There will be declines. We can’t continue like this forever.” Speak for yourself, rich guy. [DealBook/NYT]
MEDIA
• Marty Peretz, part owner of the New Republic, sold his share of the magazine to CanWest Global Communications but will stay on as editor-in-chief. [NYT]
• The AP made a startling announcement yesterday: Barring any major news (a head-shaving, say?), the wire service will not be covering Paris Hilton for an entire week. [NYO]
• The MPAA continues its misguided copyright strategy by pulling clips of its broadcast off YouTube. [Variety via Mediabistro]
LAW
• In a state-of-the-judiciary address, New York’s chief judge called for yearly cost-of-living adjustments and endorsed a reorganization of “the most archaic and bizarrely convoluted court structure in the nation.” [NYLJ]
• Some state officials are dismayed by Governor Spitzer’s refusal to increase funding for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, nearly the only oversight body for 2,000 village and town justices. [NYT]
• In considering naming its sections after something besides numbers, Harvard Law School students demonstrate their ability to be simultaneously humorless and silly. [Above the Law]
FASHION
• Is Naomi Watts the new face of Escada? Possibly not after the clothing line announced her pregnancy — something the actress has yet to confirm. [WWD]
• A Swiss weekly was duped into running a fake Gucci ad and billed the company $50,000. [AdFreak via Downtown Darling]
• Patricia Field’s shoe line for Payless is — dare we say it — actually cute. [Fly Paper]
