Shares of AIG sunk 15 percent on Friday on growing concerns over the company's financial health. Figures released by the Federal Reserve showed that as of Wednesday AIG has borrowed $90.3 billion. The company stated that it would sell off certain business divisions in order to repay the loan.

SunTrust Banks Inc. reported a 26 percent decline for its third-quarter. However, despite the large losses due to bad loans, the company's earnings of 88 cents per share easily beat analysts expectations of 60 cents per share.

Chairman Dick Kovacevich stated that he expects governments around the world to do whatever it takes in order to propel the economy back on track. Kovacevich said, that "there may be doubts how long [the recovery] will take, but it will get done and sooner than most people think." The banker is anticipating that the economy will quickly bounce back at the beginning of next year.

Bank of America's agreement to acquire Merrill Lynch is looking more grim for Bank of America. Merrill Lynch reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss Thursday due to increased write downs related to bad real-estate investments. Its core wealth management division also posted severe losses due to the recent steep decline in stock prices. The $5.2 billion quarterly loss makes its year losses... More

Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced that is set to launch 18 new natural gas index and swing swap futures. The new futures will begin trading on October 19th.

Citigroup has agreed to walk away from stiff negotiations with Wells Fargo to divvy up Wachovia. The company still plans to actively pursue damages on the behalf of its shareholders. Citigroup had first agreed to acquire Wachovia and even provided some initial funding; however, later the same week Wells Fargo made its own offer for the struggling bank.

SunTrust immediately cut its prime lending rate to 4.5 percent from 5 percent, following the Fed's move to cut the Federal Funds rate to 1.5 percent. The prime rate is a key benchmark for corporate and consumer credit loans.

Insurer MetLife sent a chill throughout the entire insurance industry Wednesday, after the company reported a 48 percent drop in third quarter earnings due to its exposure to Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, and AIG. It life insurer announced that it will need to cut jobs and sell an additional 75 million shares in order to raise capital.

Citigroup reported Monday that it has filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme court against both Wachovia and Wells Fargo as well as the directors of both companies for $60 billion in damages for interfering with the bank's planned acquisition. Wachovia believes its agreement with Wells Fargo is still valid and in the best interest of its shareholders. Federal Officials have been urging the companies... More

Bank of America reported earnings of 15 cents a share much lower than analysts forecasts of 61 cents a share. Bank of America announced that they are going to need to cut their dividend by 50 percent and issue another $10 billion in common shares. Bank of America posted earnings of 82 cents a share for the same quarter a year prior.

Citigroup has won its first battle for Wachovia, as Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos has temporarily blocked Wells Fargo from acquiring the troubled U.S. bank Wachovia. Citigroup had signed an exclusive agreement with Wachovia and even provided funding for the troubled bank last week; however, on Friday Wells Fargo announced a takeover bid valued at $15 billion for the troubled bank. Wells Fargo's... More

TCF Financial Corporation reported Wednesday that it will eliminating positions due to cutbacks in the bank\'s annuity business. The bank reported that it is no longer taking on any new accounts; however, it would continue servicing its existing accounts. Jason Korstange, Spokesperson for TCF, reported that the move was not due to current market conditions, but was a move as part of the banks efforts... More

Despite Wachovia's agreement with Citigroup, Wells Fargo has decided it now wants control of the bank. Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $15.1 billion for the bank much higher than Citigroup's agreement to purchase the bank for $2.1 billion. Under the Wells Fargo deal, each Wachovia shareholder will receive 0.1997 shares of Wells Fargo for every share they own. The move values Wachovia at roughly $7... More

Swiss Bank announced Friday that it plans to cut 2,000 jobs. The majority of the job cuts will come from the U.S. The investment banking unit has led to UBS having record massive losses and write downs totaling 45 billion this year.

Merrill's CEO John Thain who helped broker the agreement to sell Merrill to Bank of America is planning to stay with Bank of America. He will resume the position of president of global banking and lead up the division of securities and wealth management for the two companies, essentially managing the businesses previously run by Merrill.