♦ Lawmakers and officials are moving close to ironing out a second stimulus bill after Fed chair Ben Bernanke endorsed the idea. [Bloomberg, NYT]
♦ The Treasury Department is pushing bigger banks to use the rescue package to acquire smaller, weaker rivals. [NYT]
♦ The Dow's 413-point rise yesterday was attributed to signs the credit market is beginning to thaw. [NYT]
♦ Some people are still making out nicely: Peter Kraus, the head of strategy at Merrill, will be leaving the firm after just a couple of months with as much as $25 million. [WSJ]

Remember how the Hawaiian Tropic Zone was slapped with a $600 million lawsuit two weeks ago after four women alleged they'd been harassed (and, in one case, raped) by a former general manager of the restaurant? Yea, well, it doesn't seem the venue learned anything from the PR fiasco: Not only is it inviting prospective waitresses to show up at the restaurant to speak to the manager with their headshot and a "bodyshot" in hand, the company's Las Vegas outpost is offering up a free boob job to the woman who collects the most candy at its Halloween party.

♦ Did you expect Anne Slowey to play down the reported feud between herself and Nina Garcia? Au contraire: "I'm not even really conscious of the fact that, oh yeah, she used to work at Elle," bitches Slowey. [NYO]
♦ Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman has joined old-school jeweler Garrard as a guest designer. Good to know she's feeding the joint account now that husband Harvey's career isn't exactly on fire. On a related note, Marchesa's having a sample sale this week. [WWD, Teen Vogue]
♦ Kate Moss's transition from elusive to overexposed is officially complete, as she provides interview answers that miraculously manage to be even more mundane than the questions. Her "fail-safe party item," you'll be scintillated to hear, is a "little black dress." [Times UK]

Heart congrats to Henry Kravis: The billionaire financier unveiled a new website for his private equity giant today. The site is still missing glossy headshots of Kravis himself (and, sadly, he has not yet followed Carl Icahn's lead and started a blog), although the site does now sport slick Chinese and Japanese versions, a useful reminder of just who's keeping the American economy afloat these days. [Dealbook]

♦ Adam Platt reviews Apiary and Delicatessen in this week's issue of New York. While the former earns a star, Delicatessen is ravaged for, among other things, "a Reuben sandwich that looks like it's been issued directly from the kitchens of Continental Airlines." [NYM]
♦ Gray's Papaya's "recession special" just got a little less special: Two franks and a drink will now cost you $4.45. [NYT]
♦ The best street food in NYC? Calexico took home top honors at the annual Vendy Awards. [Eater]

In the latest issue of Men's Vogue, Hud Morgan recounts a recent visit to Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano's club 1OAK, where he finds that despite the meltdown, everyone's still having lots of fun.

Neel Kashkari, the 35-year-old former Goldman banker tapped to lead the $700 billion bailout? His 1991 yearbook features quotes from AC/DC and Rush as well as a giant picture of a Ferrari. [Gawker]

Architect Zaha Hadid's Chanel-sponsored "Mobile Art Pavilion" opened in Central Park today. What's inside? Video of naked people beating each other with handbags, apparently. The ship will lift off on November 9th and it's officially sold-out until then, although a certain number of tickets are supposedly handed out every day beginning at 8AM. [Racked]

Can't concentrate? Darting from one task to another in between checking emails and news while texting and wondering what to eat for dinner? No wonder the economy's crumbled: According to figures provided by consulting firm Basex, everyone's scattered attention span swallows 28 percent of our work days and takes an annual toll of $650 billion in productivity. So what can improve concentration? Meditation, getting more sleep and exercise, and a tidy workspace, apparently. Or, the government could just pipe Adderall into the water system. [WSJ]

If you ask nicely, Sarah Palin will not only pose for a photo, she'll let you plant a kiss on her cheek, too. [TMZ]

♦ Judy Miller is joining Fox News as a contributor. [WaPo]
♦ David Carr chats with lousy market prognosticator Jim Cramer, who concedes that it's "a completely humbling market," but won't apologize for suggesting everyone take their money out of the market. [NYT]
♦ Jeff Zucker says NBC will cut $500 million from its 2009 budget. [Reuters]
♦ Jeff Probst has a new show in the works: Live Like You're Dying will feature Probst taking a terminally-ill person on "the last adventure of their life." [EW]
♦ A report on the mood at the Frankfurt Book Fair. [NYO]
♦ Rick Yorn has left the the Hollywood management powerhouse the Firm. [Variety]
♦ Max Payne was the No. 1 movie at the box office this weekend, racking up $18 million in ticket sales. [LAT]

Tom Cruise spending some quality time with Suri over the weekend... Katie Holmes leaving her building in sunglasses and a scarf ... Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda bundled up for a walk in Brooklyn ... Sarah Jessica Parker taking a stroll with her son and dog ... Mariah Carey getting out of a car at an event in Midtown ... Uma Thurman walking with boyfriend Arki Busson ... Alec Baldwin and Elvis Mitchell attending the Hamptons International Film Festival's Golden Starfish Awards ... and Keira Knightly standing on the set of her new movie in SoHo, and later snuggling up with her boyfriend Rupert Friend.

Unfortunately for dealers and artists who have become accustomed to wealthy collectors competing with each other to drop millions on contemporary art, now that everyone is tightening the purse strings, the power balance has shifted: "Before, collectors had to take whatever art they could get from dealers and auction houses," says one dealer, "but now those collectors are saying, 'Kneel down and ask nicely.'"

And you thought everyone who worked in the mortgage industry was screwed. A "Manhattan mortgage mogul" paid $400,000 last week for two "personal seat licenses," which will give him the right to buy the two best Jets season tickets at the new stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2010. Sound like a lot? In his defense, the purchase does come with free food and parking. [NYP]

It's not just porn companies, beauty salons, hotels, action figure makers, and costume manufacturers cashing in on Sarah Palin: Manhattan Mini-Storage has managed to find a way to get into the act, too. [Politico]

Although the fortunes of Russian oligarchs have shrunk a tad in the past few weeks— the richest of them all, scandal-hit Oleg Deripaska, may be forced to give up a stake in his mining empire if he doesn't come up with $2 billion in the next few days—that's no reason to stop lavishing attention on the new breed of Russian it-girls or "tusovshchitsa." The London Times brings us up to speed on the women who have taken full advantage of their country's sudden wealth to step into the limelight, and who are unlikely to want to relinquish it just because there are slightly fewer billions floating around.

The Post followed up over the weekend on our scoop last Friday that Carl Icahn is in the process of selling his 177-foot yacht for $37.5 million. Despite the fact he's taken a beating in recent months—his Icahn Enterprises is down 76 percent this year and he's lost a fortune with investments in Motorola and Yahoo!—Icahn's yacht broker claims the billionaire is selling the floating paradise to buy an even bigger yacht, which he plans to rent out to others to cover the operating costs. Who knew there are lots of people in the market these days for $250K-a-week yacht rentals? [NYP]

If you've had your doubts about the security measures in place at the nation's airports, you may not be too happy to hear that it's actually much worse than you ever imagined. In the November issue of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg shows you how he managed to get by the TSA with fake boarding passes, terrorist manuals packed in his carry-on, and liquid strapped to his chest. [Atlantic]

Did you know that last Friday marked Eliot and Silda Spitzer's 21st wedding anniversary? Neither did we! Fortunately, the Daily News was thoughtful enough to send a reporter to cover the momentous occasion, who found the couple celebrating over breakfast at E.A.T on the Upper East Side: "She had toast. He had oatmeal. They shared laughs." Don't forget: breakfast is the most important meal of the day! [NYDN]

Just as Anna Wintour could clearly care less about rumors that the Russian Vogue editor might be in line for her job, she's certainly not going to let the trifling matter of a global recession get in the way of what's important: expensive renovations of her estate in Mastic Beach, NY. Town planning minutes reveal that Wintour's applications to expand her gym and build a new 700-square-foot garage on the property were both approved. [Newsday]