Reuters - JPMorgan Chase & Co capped off its purchase of Washington Mutual Inc on Friday by selling $10 billion of stock, more than it expected, while analysts warned the company faces a third-quarter loss.

Reuters - Stocks ended mostly higher on Friday as big bank shares staged a late rally on hopes lawmakers would hammer out an agreement on a $700 billion financial-sector rescue plan this weekend.

Reuters - As depositors lost confidence in Washington Mutual Inc , and began emptying their accounts, regulators abandoned hopes of saving the largest U.S. savings bank and conducted a secret auction.

Reuters - Wachovia Corp has begun early merger talks with several suitors, according to published reports, all of which spurned Washington Mutual Inc prior to that lender's seizure by the U.S. government.

Reuters - Stocks fell on Friday as nervousness abounded about when Congress would pass a $700 billion financial sector rescue and Washington Mutual became the largest U.S. bank failure in history.

Reuters - Washington Mutual may file for bankruptcy shortly, said Merrill Lynch analyst Kenneth Bruce terminating coverage of the stock.

Reuters - U.S. lawmakers faced growing pressure on Friday to agree on a $700 billion financial rescue plan after talks collapsed in acrimony and the biggest bank closure in U.S. history roiled global markets.

Reuters - Hard hats, transit workers, machinists, teachers and other labor unionists railed against the U.S. government's proposed bailout of Wall Street on Thursday in a protest steps from the New York Stock Exchange.