A maverick like Sen. John McCain is wont to seek advice from unlikely folks.

That’s the mark of a maverick. But would the Republican presidential candidate tap Jim Cramer, the pulse-pumping host of CNBC’s Mad Money, for economic policy?

Whether or not he actually would, it makes Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld uncomfortable that, around the same time two weeks ago, both McCain and Cramer endorsed the  so-called uptick rule as an emergency measure in financial markets. Greifeld, not shy of dabbling in politics, pointed out the eerie coincidence in the waning minutes of a conference call this week.

The topic was the U.S. ban on short-selling, and Nasdaq, the big stock market, was advocating the use of circuit breakers to help rein in traders said to be feeding off rotting financial firms. (Circuit breakers could be used to halt short selling after a stock drops by a specified amount.

The uptick rule, on the other hand, was used by the SEC for decades to force shorters to sell at a higher price than the previous trade.) Greifeld, also not shy of tongue-in-cheek, was arguing that the uptick rule was more or less useless, when he took a break to say:

“I just have a personal feeling when I see Jim Cramer advocating for it on Mad Money, and then Senator McCain advocating that Chairman Cox be fired, and also advocating for the adaptation of the uptick rule, I get concerned that it’s just kind of a rush to judgment not based upon any particular study.”

Checkmate. But for the record, McCain made the recommendations amid a flurry of others as Wall Street crumbled and Washington desperately needed a fix. Cramer made the recommendation amid flying chairs, rolled-up sleeves and the sound of toppling bowling pins.

Wells Fargo said on Friday it reached a deal to buy Wachovia for about $15.1 billion out from under Citigroup’s nose.

We still haven’t heard back from Citi, so the question now is whether Citi simply walked away from a deal it – and the market – had seemed so excited about just days ago or whether it will come back with another bid. The latest from Citi’s website is that they are committed to the Wachovia transaction – that was Sept. 30.

Another bid? A bidding war? A bidding scuffle?

Seems unlikely in this time of failures, toxic waste and bailouts, and Citi certainly has plenty of trouble of its own. But Warren Buffett and others have been quite vocal about the great deals out there to be had, and certainly Wells Fargo seemed to have missed the boat when Citi made its initial bid — which was worth $2.16 billion for everything but AG Edwards and Wachovia Securities and included a fund business.

Wells is ponying up for the whole Wachovia. Citi’s share price was tanking in premarket trade, and analysts were quick to note that the failure of a Citi/Wachovia deal is as big a blow for Citi as it was for struggling Wachovia. While a full-out war for Wachovia seems unlikely at this point, a higher price for Wachovia can’t be anything but a good thing for a market that has spent months trying to figure out how to value dud bank assets.

Deals of the day:

* Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will consider merging its securities arm with Morgan Stanley’s Japan business, as Tokyo’s biggest lender looks to capitalize on its $9 billion Wall Street investment.

* Ukraine-focused oil and gas explorer Regal Petroleum denied it had received a $1.2 billion takeover approach from oil Major Royal Dutch Shell.

* Japanese property firm Daito Trust Construction shelved a planned buyout that could have exceeded $6 billion, after the funds behind the deal failed to raise enough money amid the global credit crunch.

* Plans by Ireland’s Elan Corp to sell its drug delivery unit in an auction have been delayed by the credit crisis but some discussions are still continuing, people familiar with the situation said.

Talk about naked shorting! Playboy magazine is getting into the financial crisis with a planned photo spread in its February 2009 issue and on Playboy.com called “Women of Wall Street.” With the potential for big job losses and a number of careers in the balance, the magazine figures that there’s no better time to tap into a relevant news topic, just like it did with “Women of WorldCom” and “Women of Enron” earlier in the decade.

You can read about the project on our website. Meanwhile, here are the rules:

Candidates currently must work for a financial institution or recently have worked for a financial institution to qualify. Women who are interested in posing can apply by sending one face shot, one full-body shot, and a legible photocopy of a government-issued photo ID proving they are 18 or older. They also must include the following information with their submission: full name, age, hometown, phone number, e-mail address, employment location, and a few sentences about themselves. For full details, please visit www.playboy.com/wallstreet.

Submissions can be sent to womenofwallstreet@playboy.com or mailed to:
PLAYBOY, Attn: Women of Wall Street/ 680 North Lake Shore Drive/ Chicago, IL 60611. Further instructions can be found at www.playboy.com/pose. Entries must be postmarked by MONTH DATE, 2008.

Deadline is Oct. 24. And… sorry: no guys allowed.

(Playboy diamond pendant photo: Reuters)