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NEW YORK - Trillions in stock market value — gone. Trillions in retirement savings — gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll — gone, gone, gone.

DETROIT - For General Motors Corp. to acquire Chrysler LLC and all of its warts, GM would have to get desperately needed cash. Lots of it, according to industry analysts.

WASHINGTON - President Bush and financial leaders from nations rich and poor pledged Saturday to intensify their efforts to unblock a frozen financial system before it does more damage to an increasingly shaky global economy.

DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC has had talks with General Motors Corp about a deal to combine the No. 1 and No. 3 American automakers at a time when both are struggling to cut costs and shore up cash, according to three people familiar with the matter.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators took over two small banks on Friday, in Michigan and Illinois, bringing the tally of bank failures to 15 so far this year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The IMF warned the world's financial system was near meltdown and France promised that a meeting of European leaders in Paris will detail measures to keep a market panic from triggering the most severe global downturn in decades.

DENVER - Qwest Communications International Inc. says it has reached a tentative agreement for a four-year contract with a union representing about 20,000 employees.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will launch its biggest retail bank rescue on Monday when the four largest, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays, ask for a combined 35 billion pound ($60.5 billion) lifeline, the Sunday Times reported.

WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund says it strongly endorses a plan by rich countries to fight the global credit crisis.

May 7, 1998: Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler-Benz, the maker of the upscale Mercedes Benz, announces a $36 billion merger with Chrysler. The new company, DaimlerChrysler AG, begins trading on the Frankfurt and New York stock exchanges on Nov. 17.

NEW YORK - Trillions in stock market value — gone. Trillions in retirement savings — gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll — gone, gone, gone.

WASHINGTON - President Bush and financial leaders from nations rich and poor pledged Saturday to intensify their efforts to unblock a frozen financial system before it does more damage to an increasingly shaky global economy.

DETROIT - For General Motors Corp. to acquire Chrysler LLC and all of its warts, GM would have to get desperately needed cash as part of the deal. Lots of it, according to industry analysts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators took over two small banks on Friday, in Michigan and Illinois, bringing the tally of bank failures to 15 so far this year.

DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC has had talks with General Motors Corp about a deal to combine the No. 1 and No. 3 American automakers at a time when both are struggling to cut costs and shore up cash, according to three people familiar with the matter.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Italy will push for broadening membership in the Group of Seven when it takes over leading the rich nations' club next year, Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti pledged on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The IMF warned the world's financial system was near meltdown and France promised that a meeting of European leaders in Paris will detail measures to keep a market panic from triggering the most severe global downturn in decades.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Saturday that emerging market countries are not immune to the most serious global economic risks in recent memory and must be careful in their policy choices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Insurance giant American International Group , on the receiving end of a multi-billion dollar bailout from the Federal Reserve, was trying hard on Saturday to look on the bright side of life.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Government-owned wealth funds and the countries that accept their investments agreed on Saturday to a set of principles aimed at ensuring that both sides play by the rules.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday agreed to provide insurance giant American International Group Inc. with a loan of up to $37.8 billion, on top of one made to the troubled company last month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee demanded answers on Thursday from the Federal Reserve about reported lavish spending by insurer American International Group Inc after it received an $85 billion rescue loan.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prudential Financial Inc is the latest major insurer to warn its quarterly profits would miss forecasts, as the shares of rivals were pummeled on concern they would need to raise capital.

LONDON - Oil prices tumbled to a one-year low below US$83 a barrel Friday in European trading as fears mounted that governments around the world would be unable to keep the ongoing financial crisis from causing a severe global economic downturn.

Internet and Web browser security experts are sounding the alarm about a new type of malicious attack called "clickjacking," a technique that can be used to dupe Web surfers into revealing confidential information while clicking on seemingly innocuous Web pages. Among other things, a clickjacking attack can be used to take control of a computer's Webcam and microphone without the knowledge of the user.

WASHINGTON - Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months — about 20 percent of their value — Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday as lawmakers began investigating how turmoil in the financial industry is whittling away workers' nest eggs.

LONDON - Oil prices plummeted to a one-year low below $83 a barrel Friday in European trading as investor fears of a severe global economic downturn caused by the crisis in credit markets sparked a panicked sell-off of both crude and equities.

NEW YORK - The stunning collapse in oil markets accelerated Friday, sending a barrel of crude plunging below $78 as investors grow more pessimistic about resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis.

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - International investors counted the cost of their involvement with Iceland Friday after a meltdown in its banking system turned the country from a popular financial player to a pauper in just a few days.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund, in its bleakest forecast in years, said on Wednesday the world economy was set for a major downturn with the United States and Europe either in or on the brink of recession.