Yesterday there was the story from Planet Money that government officials weren’t even mentioning nationalizing banks because just doing so could send their stock into the toilet.

Today there’s the story that bank stocks plummeted after Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the banking committee, said banks my have to be nationalized. The story was headline news, at least in most business sections. The New York Times website had the story above the fold, right next to the main picture and said:

Banking shares began to plunge Friday morning after Senator Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who is chairman of the banking committee, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that he was concerned the government might end up nationalizing some lenders “at least for a short time.”

Perhaps to help bolster bank stock Senator Dodd’s next statement can be “I resign”.