The Bush Deregulation, No Holds-Barred, Who Needs Oversight
Economy Begins Circling The Drain And
Its Not Funny
After Frantic Day, Wall St. Banks Falter
This article was reported by Jenny Anderson, Eric Dash and Andrew Ross Sorkin and was written by Mr. Sorkin.
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Published: September 14, 2008
In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street’s history, Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself on Sunday to Bank of America for roughly $50 billion to avert a deepening financial crisis, while another prominent securities firm, Lehman Brothers, said it would seek bankruptcy protection and hurtled toward liquidation after it failed to find a buyer.
The humbling moves, which reshape the landscape of American finance, mark the latest chapter in a tumultuous year in which once-proud financial institutions have been brought to their knees as a result of hundreds of billions of dollars in losses because of bad mortgage finance and real estate investments.
New phase of disaster plagues Ike’s survivors
Texas shelters grow crowded after nearly 2,000 rescued; death toll at 28
Associated Press
GALVESTON, Texas – As teams continued the biggest search and rescue operation in Texas history, a new phase of the disaster wrought by Hurricane Ike was only beginning as thousands of people faced long stays in crowded shelters because their homes were damaged or destroyed.
The death toll from Ike rose to 28, but many of those were far to the north of the Gulf Coast as the storm slogged across the nation’s midsection, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction. Glass-strewn Houston was placed under a weeklong curfew, and millions of people in the storm’s path remained in the dark.
USA
Spike in jobless rate for women is worst in more than 33 years
By Tony Pugh | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON – A sharp monthly rise in unemployment for women could be a sign that the economic slowdown has begun to hit working women with a force not seen in decades.
When the unemployment rate for women went from 4.6 percent in July to 5.3 percent in August, it was the largest one-month spike in the jobless rate for women in more than 33 years.
Black women were hit even harder, as their unemployment rate jumped 21 percent, from 7.5 percent in July to 9.1 percent in August.
Among single mothers and women with families, unemployment climbed to 9.6 percent in August – the highest level in 15 years.