Queens' very own Fran Drescher turns 52 today. Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard is turning 34. Jenna Elfman is 38. Monica Bellucci is turning 45. Phish's Trey Anastasio turns 45. Elie Wiesel, the Nobel-winning author and Holocaust survivor, is 81. PR veteran Bobby Zarem is turning 73. Money manager Marty Whitman turns 85. Hedge fund manager Israel Englander is 61. Actor Eric Stoltz is 48. Lacey Chabert (Party of Five, Mean Girls) is 27. And former professional tennis player, Martina Hingis, turns 29 today.

♦ In a extraordinarily bold move, the U.S. will use $250 billion to take equity stakes in major financial institutions like Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase as part of an effort to restore confidence in the system, unlock the credit markets and "avoid financial collapse." [WSJ, NYT]
♦ The government's move isn't unprecedented, although not everyone is very happy with the "partial nationalization" approach. [NYT, WaPo]
♦ Global markets continued to rise overnight as investors responded to news of the government's plan. [Bloomberg]
♦ Notwithstanding the bailout, some hedge fund titans like Steve Cohen, John Paulson, and Israel Englander are staying on the sidelines and keeping their billions in cash. [WSJ]

Celebrating birthdays today: Veteran publicist Bobby Zarem (left) is 72. Legendary money manager Marty Whitman is 84. Hedge fund billionaire Israel Englander is 60. Elie Wiesel is 80. Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard is 33. Actress Lacey Chabert is 26. Fran Drescher is turning 51. Jenna Elfman is 37. Phish's Trey Anastasio is 44. And former tennis star Martina Hingis is 28 today.

♦ Super secretive hedge funder Israel Englander has paid $9.3 mil. for a co-op apartment at 1000 Park Avenue. The four-bedroom spread features a maid's room and a library. You can see the floorplan after the jump. [Real Deal]
♦ Makeup maven Laura Mercier has flipped her Chelsea loft at 205 West 19th Street. Mercier sold the 5,500-square-foot space to Lionel Pincus' son, Henry, and his wife Ana, for $8.5 mil.—$1.8 mil. more than she paid for it in late 2006. [NYO]
♦ Italian photographer Elisa Sighicelli paid $3 mil. for a 2,000-square-foot loft at 225 Lafayette Street. She purchased it from video artist Douglas Gordon. [NYO]
♦ The five-acre Bellport property once owned by Elmer Sperry, who founded the Sperry Corporation, is on the market for $5.7 mil. The property includes a three-bedroom house, two pools, and a guest cottage. [Newsday]