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Kuwait has pulled out of a multibillion-dollar deal with Dow Chemical, a move that the Wall Street Journal calls "the latest sign of how roller-coaster energy prices are whipsawing the global economy." The planned joint venture had been announced a year ago and was set to close Thursday. Under its terms, a state-owned petroleum company was to pay Dow Chemical $7.5 billion for a 50 percent stake in various chemical companies used to make plastics.

The grisly discovery of yesterday’s suicide by U.S.-based French banker Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet—co-founder of Access International Advisors, who may have incurred as much as $1.5 billion in Madoff-related losses—features prominently in a number of business publications today. But behind that story, new details continue to emerge. The European fallout includes Union Bancaire Privée, a private Swiss bank with $700 million of client money invested.

“The contagion spreads”: familiar headlines since September, and yet Monday’s papers show some unlikely quarters for hand-wringing and pleading. For instance, did you know that big office buildings and sprawling office parks are looking for government support, too? Yes, citing lobbying efforts and a letter to Henry Paulson, the Wall Street Journal says that property developers want to get a piece of the $200 billion program to help car, student, and credit-card loan providers.

General Motors and Chrysler may be getting hitched after all. On a day of plenty of auto-sector news, the Wall Street Journal breaks the scoop that the two struggling automakers have reopened merger talks. The new development is that "Chrysler owner Cerberus Capital Management LP has signaled its willingness to give away part of its ownership in the auto maker" to get the deal done, the newspaper writes, citing people in the know.

Perhaps the question we all should be asking about the alleged $50 billion Bernard Madoff fraud is: Who hasn't been duped? Reporters from Tokyo to West Palm Beach are still piecing together just how vast the damage will be, who is at risk, and for how much. The globe-spanning list of Madoff victims keeps growing, the BBC reports this morning.

Detroit can breathe a little easier today. The long-predicted bailout of the automotive industry heads to the House of Representatives for a vote, possibly as early as today, after lengthy negotiations concluded yesterday, the Washington Post and New York Times report this morning.

First the good news for General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner. After weeks of industry pleading, it looks likely that lawmakers will drive through a short-term $15 billion auto loan, writes the Detroit News. That will save GM and Chrysler from hitting the wall for at least a couple of months.

In his final weeks on the job, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is going back to the root of the economy's problems: the housing market. According to the Wall Street Journal, Paulson is mulling a plan to revitalize slumping home sales by squeezing lending rates to affordable levels for new homebuyers. How affordable?