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

Lehman Brothers has approached other major financial institutions about a potential acquisition or investment in the battered securities company, people close to the situation said Thursday. ...more

September 12, 2008

Lehman Brothers, in a desperate bid to survive, announced plans Wednesday to sell a majority stake in its prized investment management business and said a sale of the entire company is possible. ...more

September 11, 2008

In keeping with today's theme (see the story at right), I thought I would open by mentioning "Godchildren," by Nicholas Coleridge (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.95). The British author offers a novel about the British upper class, specifically a business tycoon's six godchildren: the arrogant one, the "devastatingly beautiful" one, the awkward one, the dependable one, the troubled one and the cutup. ...more

September 7, 2008

Consumer spending slowed to a crawl and personal incomes plunged in July, reflecting the waning impact of $93 billion in economic stimulus payments. ...more

August 30, 2008

Builders of shopping centers in Florida nearly printed money in the past several years, benefiting from skyrocketing rent and soaring prices for strip malls. ...more

August 19, 2008

Countrywide's acquisition by Bank of America Corp. was supposed to help keep the troubled mortgage lender from collapse. Things might not turn out exactly as planned. ...more

August 16, 2008

The U.S. trade deficit has gone on a diet, helped by strong exports of farm products and manufactured goods and by Americans spending less as the economy limps along. ...more

August 13, 2008

On the surface, U.S. companies' second-quarter earnings were fairly respectable when you strip away the financial sector - profits for Standard & Poor's 500 members rose about 10 percent from a year earlier after falling sharply the two previous quarters. ...more

August 6, 2008

Focused on getting the nation's credit gears smoothly working again, the Federal Reserve is letting Wall Street firms draw emergency loans into next year and giving financial companies more options to help them overcome credit problems. ...more

July 31, 2008