A day after he dismissed a federal bailout for American International Group, Republican John McCain announced Wednesday that circumstances had forced him to shift his position and that he supported the proposed $85 billion rescue of the insurance giant. ...more

September 18, 2008

When Bill Crews, the chairman of Wauchula State Bank, and Tom Trevino, a broker with Merrill Lynch's brokerage in Sebring, spoke to the Kiwanis in Hardee County on Tuesday, they faced a deluge of questions. ...more

September 18, 2008

The flow of money through critical parts of the financial system all but stopped Wednesday, prompting the stock market to plunge again as banks lost faith in one another and investors rushed to U.S. government securities to protect their savings. ...more

September 18, 2008

Shares of troubled banks Washington Mutual Inc. and Wachovia Corp. recovered on Tuesday as investors grew hopeful that American International Group Inc. would receive much-needed funding. ...more

September 17, 2008

The Federal Reserve forged an extraordinary $85 billion rescue Tuesday night of insurance giant American International Group Inc., offering a respite from two days of chaos in the American financial system. ...more

September 17, 2008

Hours before Federal Reserve officials found a cash infusion to keep afloat American International Group Inc., the nation's largest insurance company, state and other government officials in Florida were still assessing how much financial exposure they might have with investments in AIG. ...more

September 17, 2008

American International Group Inc. will be allowed to use $20 billion of assets held by its subsidiaries to provide cash needed for the troubled insurer to stay in business, New York Gov. David Paterson said Monday. ...more

September 16, 2008

In another unnerving day for Wall Street, investors suffered their worst losses since the Sept. 11 attacks, and government officials raced to prevent the financial crisis from spreading. ...more

September 16, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) -- A stunning makeover of the Wall Street landscape sent stocks falling precipitously Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials sliding 500 points in their worst point drop since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Investors reacted badly to a shakeup of the financial industry that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. ...more

September 15, 2008

In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street's history, Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for roughly $50 billion to avert a deepening financial crisis while another prominent securities firm, Lehman Brothers, hurtled toward liquidation after it failed to find a buyer, people briefed on the deals said. ...more

September 15, 2008