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NEW YORK - Trillions in stock market value — gone. Trillions in retirement savings — gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll — gone, gone, gone.

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told international leaders on Sunday that isolationism and protectionism could worsen the spreading financial crisis. With a new trading week dawning, U.S. lawmakers urged quick action by the Bush administration on measures to make direct purchases of bank stock to help unlock lending.

LONDON (Reuters) - Investors will be seeing this week whether policymakers found a way to pull markets away from a deeper collapse as global capital markets faced complete freeze-up.

An inflatable gorilla beckoned from the roof of Don Brown Chevrolet in St. Louis, servers doled out free bowls of pasta and a salesman urged potential customers to "come on up under the canopy and put your hands on" a new set of wheels.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The global economy is drawing closer to a dangerous downward spiral and time may be running out for world leaders to find a way to stop it before it inflicts lasting damage.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Financing is getting pricier and more elusive for companies that file for bankruptcy.

PARIS (Reuters) - Countries from Europe to Australia rushed out plans on Sunday to shore up their banks, trying to stem a crash in markets by pledging to back lending, buy stakes in financial institutions and take other measures.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top executives at American International Group Inc knew of potential problems in valuing derivatives contracts, known as credit default swaps, long before questions about the risky transactions caused its stock to plummet, the Wall Street Journal said, citing documents released by congressional investigators.

DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC has had talks with General Motors Corp about a deal to combine the No. 1 and No. 3 American automakers at a time when both are struggling to cut costs and shore up cash, according to three people familiar with the matter.

DETROIT - For General Motors Corp. to acquire Chrysler LLC and all of its warts, GM would have to get desperately needed cash. Lots of it, according to industry analysts.

Internet and Web browser security experts are sounding the alarm about a new type of malicious attack called "clickjacking," a technique that can be used to dupe Web surfers into revealing confidential information while clicking on seemingly innocuous Web pages. Among other things, a clickjacking attack can be used to take control of a computer's Webcam and microphone without the knowledge of the user.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Sunday gave its stamp of approval to the takeover of Wachovia Corp by Wells Fargo & Co of San Francisco, which had battled New York-based Citigroup for ownership of the wounded bank.

Highlights of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's statement Sunday to a meeting of the World Bank's development committee, as provided by the Treasury Department:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The financial crisis sweeping the global economy is one of the most serious challenges ever, leading to a sharp slowdown in growth, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Saturday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - High anxiety on Wall Street won't subside next week as the deepening credit crunch pushes the global economy into recession and corporate profits increasingly become an afterthought as investors scramble to raise enough cash to weather the credit crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators took over two small banks on Friday, in Michigan and Illinois, bringing the tally of bank failures to 15 so far this year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday signaled a readiness to lower U.S. interest rates in a dramatic shift to support an economy battered by a financial crisis of "historic dimension."

WASHINGTON - Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months — about 20 percent of their value — Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday as lawmakers began investigating how turmoil in the financial industry is whittling away workers' nest eggs.