Reuters - General Motors Corp is suspending matching payments to employee 401K plans as of November 1 and continues to assess its staffing needs as part of efforts to conserve cash amid a deep downturn in sales, the automaker said on Thursday.

Reuters - A top U.S. banking regulator said on Thursday the government must do more to guarantee mortgage loans to persuade lenders to modify their terms and help ward off a rising wave of foreclosures.

Reuters - Bleak outlooks from world carmakers and a barrage of job cuts by major U.S. companies including Chrysler and Xerox deepened fears of an extended global recession and kept market nerves on edge on Thursday.

Reuters - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress on Thursday he is "shocked" at the breakdown in U.S. credit markets and said he was "partially" wrong to resist regulation of some securities.

Reuters - Stocks fell further in volatile action on Thursday on worries about the prospects for the global economy and concern about corporate profit outlooks.

AFP - Panic-selling returned to global stock markets on Wednesday, with the leading Dow Jones industrial index shedding 5.6 percent, as fears of global recession stalked investors.

AP - Argentina's surprise move to nationalize $30.1 billion in private pension funds amid the global fiscal crisis has driven the nation's benchmark stock index down 20 percent in two days.

Reuters - Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS), South Korea's top auto maker, will meet this year's business target, although world auto markets have been hit by weaker demand on the global economic slowdown, a senior official said on Thursday.

Reuters - Amazon.com Inc said sales in the holiday quarter would fall short of Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down nearly 14 percent as consumers cut back on spending and a strengthening U.S. dollar eroded the value of foreign sales.

Reuters - Weak Japanese exports illustrated on Thursday the damage to major economies from the global financial crisis as the IMF said it would open loan talks with Belarus, the latest developing market casualty.

Reuters - Former Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Sanford Weill is in talks to launch a private equity fund that would invest in beaten-down financial companies and assets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Reuters - A flight from emerging market debt and stocks helped push the dollar to a two-year high against major currencies on Thursday as fears built about a global recession.

AP - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Wednesday it will set new quality standards for its suppliers amid a scare over toxic milk products that have sickened tens of thousands of babies across China.

AFP - A summit of world leaders on the global financial crisis will be held in Washington next month, the White House announced Wednesday, amid warnings that widespread recession is now inevitable.

Reuters - Stock markets around the world fell sharply again on Wednesday as concerns about economic recession and falling commodity prices were fueled further by a fresh spate of gloomy corporate earnings.