Reuters - The Dow and the S&P 500 dropped for an eighth session on Friday, as a dramatic late-day comeback stalled out to cap the worst week ever for the S&P amid more anxiety about the condition of credit markets and the threat of a global recession.

Reuters - The U.S. government pushed on Saturday to finish a plan to buy direct stakes in American banks as finance ministers from around the world struggled to find ways to stop the deepening financial crisis and shore up markets.

Reuters - General Motors has had talks with smaller rival Chrysler LLC about a merger that would 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 a source briefed on the matter.

Reuters - The United States is developing plans to buy equity stakes in financial institutions, providing another weapon in its war against financial market turmoil, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday.

AP - Europe's stock markets plunged Friday after Wall Street opened a breathtaking 7 percent lower — below the 8,000 level — but they soon recouped some of those losses when the Dow Jones index made a partial comeback.

Reuters - Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs shares slumped on Friday after Moody's Investors Service said it might cut their ratings, reviving concerns about the viability of their banking models.

Reuters - Oil prices dropped 10 percent on Friday and touched 13-month lows in a flight from risk amid concerns of a worldwide recession and further signs of slumping energy demand.

Reuters - Wall Street titans buckled under the weight of a global stock market panic on Friday as the finance chiefs of the world's major economies gathered in Washington to confront the inescapable financial crisis.

Reuters - Stocks tumbled in a turbulent session on Friday, as panicked investors dumped stocks in a global sell-off on mounting fears that frozen credit markets would push the world into recession.

AP - Dismal September sales results from mall-based apparel chains, released Thursday, offered more fresh evidence that American consumers, spooked by the financial meltdown, shut their wallets tight last month.