Recently Added, Economic Collapse

The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

eneral Motors Corp. was downgraded to ``sell'' at Deutsche Bank AG, which set a share-price estimate of zero, and was cut to ``underweight'' at Barclays Capital.

The insurer lost a record $24.5 billion, or $9.05 a share, in the third quarter, compared with profit of $3.09 billion, or $1.19, a year earlier, AIG said in a statement.

In its first report since being seized by the U.S. government last month, Washington-based Fannie Mae said its third-quarter net loss was $29 billion, or $13 a share, from $1.4 billion, or $1.56, a year earlier.

The benchmark index for U.S. stock options jumped to the second-highest close in its 18-year history after a slump in retail sales heightened concern the nation may not avoid a prolonged recession.