Reuters - Wall Street's manic dealmaking reached a new pitch on Wednesday as U.S. share prices plummeted to three-year lows and forced increasingly desperate major banks to scramble for merger partners.

AFP - Lloyds TSB has reached a deal to merge with HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, after the latter's shares plummeted for a third day running, British media reported Wednesday.

AFP - HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, has reached a deal to merge with its rival Lloyds TSB, media reports said Wednesday, after the lender's shares plummeted for a third day running.

Reuters - British bank Lloyds TSB has agreed to buy rival HBOS Plc to create a 28 billion pound ($50 billion) mortgage company, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, making it the latest troubled bank to be forced into the arms of a better-funded rival.

Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc , the giant U.S. savings and loan beleaguered by mortgage losses, has put itself up for sale, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Britain's Lloyds TSB sealed a 12.2 billion pound ($21.7 billion) deal to buy HBOS Plc to create a dominant mortgage and savings bank, encouraged by the government amid fears turmoil in financial markets would claim another UK victim.

Reuters - Construction starts on new U.S. homes plummeted to a 17-1/2-year low during August as builders scaled back sharply to try to cope with the worst slump in U.S. housing since the Great Depression.

Reuters - Construction starts on new homes plunged to a 17-1/2-year low during August as builders scaled back sharply to try to cope with the worst slump in U.S. housing since the Great Depression.

Reuters - British bank Lloyds TSB is in advanced talks to buy domestic rival HBOS Plc , HBOS said on Wednesday, to create a 28 billion pound ($50 billion) mortgage giant.

AFP - The global financial firestorm claimed a fresh victim Wednesday as top British mortgage lender HBOS said it was in takeover talks after a huge US bailout of insurer AIG helped underpin volatile share prices.

Reuters - Shares of Wall Street firms Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs plummeted on Wednesday and Britain's biggest mortgage lender neared a sale in the latest signs of extreme distress in the financial industry.