Warren Buffet, the richest man in the world and the only person we can think of off the top of our heads who lives in Omaha, is investing $3 billion in beleaguered GE. [Dealbook]

Remember those tacky pheromone perfumes that promised to render wearers irresistible to the opposite sex? Slightly classier but even less plausible is Ageless Fantasy, a new perfume which "research" has shown will fool men into believing the woman smelling of it is eight years younger than her real age. But wouldn't it be better to spray on something that actually makes you look younger?

Looking for a job in commercial real estate? Pack your bags! While the prospects in NYC are few and far between, the market in Texas is performing quite nicely. In fact, they're desperate for qualified job candidates. Of course, if you'd rather be unemployed and destitute rather than move a few miles down the road from George W, we totally understand. [WSJ]

It doesn't strike us as an ideal time to be launching a splashy new hotel in Midtown, but turbaned hotelier/playboy Vikram Chatwal's latest property opened today on West 47th Street. Chatwal gave the property the gimmicky name Stay. But it might just work out to his advantage: In this economy, you can interpret it as Chatwal's personal request that you stay at his hotel and stay there for a very long time. [StayHotelNY.com, HotelChatter]

When we heard people compare Miss Alaska '84 runner-up Sarah Palin to Lauren Caitlin Upton, the Miss Teen USA contestant who set off an Internet sensation with her bizarre, rambling question to a geography question, we laughed. Palin's Q&A with Katie Couric wasn't quite that bad, was it? Then we put the two clips together and to our horror we realized that, yes, it kind of was!

In these difficult times, it's so tricky to know how to manage one's budget, especially when it comes to buying a fall wardrobe. (It's even trickier when even the homeless in the city are carrying Gucci shopping bags.) Luckily, we have the wisdom of socialites to guide us—lead by example, as is their birthright!—through the kind of scary decisions that now loom. For instance, dare you imperil your reputation by succumbing to the Barneys rack at Filene's Basement? What a relief: Kate Schelter says you're allowed. Celerie Kemble, for her part, counsels "going back to vintage," while Fabiola Beracasa gives permission to wear the same thing (we can hardly type it!) more than once—advice seconded by Harper's Bazaar's Mary Alice Stephenson, who claimed to have worn the same Dior gown three times! We didn't know clothes could withstand such heavy usage. [NYO]

Madonna carrying son David into the Kabbalah Center on East 48th Street ... Whitney Port walking in SoHo ... Blake Lively shooting a scene for Gossip Girl in Times Square ... Pete Wentz leaving the SoHo Grand with a coffee in hand ... Denzel Washington and wife Pauletta leaving lunch at Nello's ... Clay Aiken leaving the Shubert Theater ... Jennifer Hudson posing for photos outside MTV in Times Square ... Anne Hathaway standing outside outside the Letterman show ... Katie Holmes leaving her apartment en route to the Schoenfeld Theatre ... and Britney Spears making her way into the Fragment jewelry store on Prince Street, then checking out In The Heights on Broadway later that night.

If you spend your days obssessing about socialites, how on earth can you be expected to find the time to understand the mess on Wall Street? You can't, which is why David Patrick Columbia's in such a confused state today: "Unfortunately the matters at hand are so complex and the solutions are so elusive as to seem impossible, that they are hard to grasp even when someone explains... A meltdown. Is that anything like a bad Tuna Melt?" Maybe the financier husband of a socialite could take David to lunch at Michael's to explain? [NYSD]

Are there millions of people out there who actually happen to be fans of Ashton Kutcher and/or Demi Moore? Apparently! At least that would explain why Barack Obama's latest campaign video features the duo with a cardboard cutout of the candidate. The queasy footage after the jump.

It's funny how convenient a giant crisis can be when you want to cling to elected office! Back in 2001, Rudy Giuliani argued that the events of September 11th necessitated bending term limits so he could remain in office an additional three months. It didn't happen, of course. (And now Rudy claims he really didn't want to stay in office, it was the public who pushed him to pursue the plan. Ha.) Now Michael Bloomberg is expected to announce shortly that he's going to push City Council legislation to change term limit laws so he can seek a third term. Mike's new rationale for staying put? According to his advisers, he "will argue that the worldwide financial crisis—with its potentially severe impact on New York City—demands his steady hand and business experience." We're not sure he really needs an excuse, though. (Just mentioning the names of some of his possible replacements seems like sufficient evidence.) But it also isn't clear how having Bloomberg remain in office will do much to help the economy.

♦ Democratic fundraisers Carl Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel are reportedly in contract to sell their apartment at 720 Park for $37 million, or $17 million more than they paid for the place just two years ago. [NYO]
♦ Jeffrey Walker, the chairman of CCMP Capital Advisors, has purchased a second-floor unit at 15CPW for $3.6 million. It'll go along with the 14th-floor spread they bought late last year for $21 million. [Cityfile]
♦ Former Lehman president and COO Joe Gregory has sold his two-bedroom apartment at 610 Park for $4.4 million, or $50,000 less than the asking price. Now he just has to find a buyer for his Bridgehampton mansion. [NYO]

Not that we're suggesting you'd even pay attention to the cost of a crate of Krug, but apparently the retail price of champagne has increased much faster than inflation. To blame? The high global demand for bubbly in recent years and the finite number of grapes available from the specific region of France permitted to label its sparkling wine champagne. Now with the economic crisis, winemakers are worried about a likely disconnect between what consumers are willing to pay and the high price of grapes. The CEO of LVMH, which owns Veuve Cliquot, Dom Perignon, and Moët Chandon, must be losing sleep! Oh, except probably not as he's the richest man in France.

"Unemployed and foreclosed male WaMu Teller Doll seeks position in your action figure collection. Includes cell phone, CAN! outfit, teller tote bag, trading card, and a handsome plastic dude with a permanent smile." Just three days left to grab a bit of banking history! Assuming, that is, our hunch is correct and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has no plans to remain in the action figure business. [EBay]

Eat a peanut today in honor of Jimmy Carter. The former president is celebrating his 84th birthday. Others celebrating: Actor Randy Quaid is 58. Julie Andrews is turning 73. Swimsuit model Cindy Margolis is 43. Retired baseball player Mark McGwire is turning 45. 48 Hours correspondent Richard Schlesinger turns 54. And Tom Bosley of Happy Days fame is 81.

Interesting in ringing the opening or closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange? Didn't think so! "'Right now, it can be a little bit like being asked to blow the foghorn on the Titanic,' said Jim Haggerty, chief executive of the PR Consulting Group, which advises companies on communications strategies." [NYT, related]

♦ Harvey Weinstein may be a million bucks poorer today. Or maybe not! After yesterday's email debacle, Harvey says he'll donate $1 million to the Robin Hood Foundation once he can verify that Scott Rudin's email is "authentic," which means he'll probably conduct an "investigation" into the matter until it blows over. [P6]
♦ Janet Jackson has been released from the hospital. But fiancé Jermaine Dupri doesn't seem too concerned. He hasn't missed any of his scheduled party appearances the past few days. [People, R&M]
♦ Britney Spears' lawyers have been working overtime to quash the sex tape she made with Adnan Ghalib. [The Sun]
♦ Salma Hayek was spotted in Paris with her ex Francois-Henri Pinault, which means it's time to start speculating about whether they're getting back together. [Daily Star]

♦ The Senate is expected to vote this evening on a revised version of the bailout bill. [NYT, WSJ, Bloomberg]
♦ Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has spent the past day and a half working over lawmakers and lobbyists, trying to change minds. [Bloomberg]
♦ President Bush has signed into law a low-interest loan package for American automakers. [WSJ]
♦ UBS plans to cut 1,900 investment banking jobs. [Bloomberg]
♦ Wells Fargo chair Richard Kovacevich says "he feels like a kid in a candy store." At least someone is feeling good. [DB]

♦ Whitney Port's clothing line is now available! Needless to say, it's overpriced and underdesigned. [FabSugar]
♦ A juicy bit of gossip from Vivienne Westwood's Paris show last night: Kate Winslet is in the running to play the legendary designer in a Universal Pictures biopic. [SassyBella]
♦ Polygamist bouffants are now très chic, if we're to believe W and Vogue, which have the bizarre hairstyles on Linda Evangelista and Isabeli Fontana, respectively. But what's Tim Gunn going to say? [NYO]

Look at it this way: If the day comes when the dollar is no longer worth the paper it's printed on, at least you'll be able to turn your cash into cute animals. [Art Of Moneygami via BoingBoing]

♦ Complain about the economy all you want but Thomas Keller has no plans to lower prices at Per Se. [GS]
♦ The early reviews are mixed for Five Leaves, the Williamsburg restaurant that Heath Ledger was planning to open before his death. [Eater]
♦ Django, the Mediterranean restaurant on 46th and Lex, is closing this Thursday. [Eater]
♦ A list of who's cooking what at the NYC Wine & Food Fest's Grand Tasting event on October 11th. [Metromix]
♦ There's no zebra on the menu at Braai, the South African barbecue restaurant in Hell's Kitchen, but that's only one of many disappointments for Danyelle Freeman. [NYDN]
♦ More complaints about Gael Greene's list of New York's most important restaurants. [Serious Eats]