From Deseret News archives:
Financial meltdown — Dow's plunge is worst since 9/11
The crisis set in motion more than a year ago by a series of bad mortgage bets produced its most devastating day yet Monday, leaving investors to wonder whether anywhere was safe for their money.
Capping a tumultuous 24 hours that redrew the American financial system, Lehman Brothers filed the largest bankruptcy in American history, and a second storied bank, Merrill Lynch, fled into the arms of Bank of America.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 500 points, more than 4 percent, its steepest point drop since the day the stock market reopened after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
About $700 billion evaporated from retirement plans, government pension funds and other investment portfolios.
It was by far the most stomach-churning single day since a financial crisis began to bubble up from billions of dollars in rotten mortgage loans that have crippled the balance sheets of one bank after another and landed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the control of the federal government.
"We are in the middle of a deep, dark recession, and it won't end soon. Here it is, and it is pretty nasty," said Barry Ritholtz, who writes the popular financial blog The Big Picture and is CEO of research firm FusionIQ.
And the fallout was far from over. American International Group, the world's largest insurer, was fighting for its very survival: New York Gov. David Paterson moved to allow the company to tap one of its subsidiaries for an emergency loan.
"AIG still remains financially sound," Paterson said, even as the company's stock tumbled almost 60 percent. Almost $20 billion was wiped off AIG's balance sheet on Monday.
In Washington, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who refused to toss a financial lifeline to Lehman, was unapologetic as the Bush administration signaled strongly that Wall Street shouldn't expect more rescues from Washington.
The American people should remain confident in the "soundness and resilience in the American financial system," Paulson told reporters at the White House.
Six months ago, Paulson moved to prevent the collapse of Bear Stearns, brokering a deal for JP Morgan Chase & Co. to buy the firm at a fire-sale price with Federal Reserve backing. Earlier this month, he stepped in to help the government seize Fannie and Freddie in hopes of reversing the housing and credit crises.
But Monday, Paulson said he "never once" considered it appropriate to put taxpayer money at risk to resolve the problems at Lehman Brothers, which was saddled with $60 billion worth of soured real estate holdings.
