Amidst the slaughter in equities, Treasuries rallied and gold soared to a new all-time high.
A downgrade of United States' top-tier credit rating has Wall Street scrambling to figure out the knock-on effects for the financial system, from mortgages to banks to markets that rely on U.S. Treasuries for collateral.
Asian shares fell on Monday and the dollar languished near a record low against the Swiss franc, as investors took fright at a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, while gold powered to another record just short of $1,690 an ounce.
Tel Aviv shares closed nearly 7 percent lower on Sunday in the first response of a developed market to Standard & Poor's downgrade of the United States' credit rating that has sparked fears of another global recession.
Mohamed El-Erian has the best explanation of what happened in the markets yesterday. First and foremost, there were ?technical factors?. This doesn?t mean lines on charts and head-and-shoulders patterns and similar astrological nonsense, but rather the dynamics of where investors? money was being held and the amount that the market would fall given a modest downward nudge. Sometimes that number is tiny, but it can fluctuate a lot, and yesterday it just happened to be huge.
?The damage this week is more than last week ? translation, more damage from economic fears than debt fears.?
U.S. stocks plummeted Thursday, following a similarly huge sell-off in Europe, on growing fears that the global economy is sinking into a recession, ahead of worries about tomorrow?s July jobs report.
The world's largest economy was headed toward an unprecedented default, and all Washington wanted to talk about was the manner in which the president had left a room.
Over the last seven consecutive days, the index has plunged 6.76 percent.
Borrowing by small businesses jumped in June to the highest level in more than three years, a sign that a so-far elusive resurgence in economic growth may be around the corner.
he British-based bank may slash at least 1,400 more jobs in 2011, after already having eliminated another 1,400 positions this year
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc will appeal a court order upholding the rushed sale of its North American business to Barclays PLC nearly three years ago, a deal Lehman said afforded Barclays an $11 billion windfall.
If the impasse over the U.S. debt limit isn't broken soon, President Barack Obama will be forced to decide how he will manage the crisis.
Lehman Brothers Holdings has made a preliminary deal to sell most of a commercial real estate property in Rosslyn, Virginia, to a Goldman Sachs unit, raising at least $385 million to help pay back creditors, according to court documents.
Former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc executives, directors, auditors and underwriters lost their bid on Wednesday to dismiss an investor lawsuit seeking to hold them responsible for losses tied to the investment bank's collapse.
U.S. money managers sitting on piles of cash are sniffing out opportunities to make a killing on the political circus in Washington over raising the nation's debt ceiling.
Not for the first time, asset managers may be playing a high-risk game as they face the threat of a U.S. debt default without concrete contingency plans.
The bankruptcy trustee for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's brokerage arm is appealing a February decision awarding Barclays PLC about $1.1 billion associated with Barclays' purchase of Lehman's North American unit at the height of the financial crisis.
GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt had big shoes to fill in following Jack Welch as the company's leader. He's faced stiff challenges, but he's reshaping the company and starting to win.
A New York judge approved a deal on Wednesday that will allow Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc to present its latest bankruptcy exit plan without opposition from two key creditor groups, moving the failed investment bank an inch closer to ending the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
A U.S. Government default must be avoided by Washington lawmakers at all costs, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers underscored, as it would trigger a financial panic worse than that precipitated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in late 2008.
The Centerbridge hedge fund does not think Lehman Brothers Holding Inc's plan to exit bankruptcy can be confirmed by a judge and it plans to mount a fight against it, according to court documents.
