Ah, bailout nation beckons for yet another group - insurers. Our pockets are endless.... the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the decision ahead by government on whether to bailout insurance companies. It appears they aren't under as strict rules as the banks to mark their assets properly so a ticking time bomb sits in the closet. If/when they are required to price things "accurately" - well that's where your tax dollars might be coming in. Interestingly, this was an area where Ken Heebner of CGM Funds fame was putting his money last quarter...

Anyhow, please break open your child's piggy bank - the government needs more of your money. This TARP fund appears to be endless - I thought it was $700 Billion but it seems company after company is going for the second $350 Billion - and somehow the fund never empties ;) Magic.

Since these are household names - Prudential, Hartford, Metlife - I cannot imagine the government not bailing them out because you can just imagine the panic that would ensue if average Americans started getting the feeling their insurance was not safe. But we'll see...

• The tumbling financial markets are dragging down the life-insurance industry, an important cog in the U.S. economy, as mounting losses weaken the companies' capital and erode investor confidence.
• A dozen life insurers have pending applications for aid from the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, and the industry is expecting an answer to its request for a bank-style bailout in the coming weeks. The government so far hasn't said whether insurers will be eligible for the program.
• Life insurers have taken a beating in recent weeks. The Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Life Insurance Index has fallen 59% since the beginning of the year, leaving it down 82% since its May 2007 all-time high.
• Some of the hardest-hit companies are century-old names that insure the lives of millions of Americans. Shares of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which already received a capital injection from German insurer Allianz, are down 93% as of Wednesday's close from their 52-week high. MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc.