Bank of America agrees to buy Merrill Lynch in a deal worth about $50 billion

Bank of America Corp. is buying Merrill Lynch & Co. for about $50 billion in a deal that should lift the uncertainty shrouding Merrill since the start of the credit crisis over a year ago, according to a person briefed on the deal.
Bank of America has agreed to acquire Merrill for [...]

Lehman’s on the brink of collapse….

As emergency talks on Lehman’s woes were being held in New York, a London source at British bank Barclays, who requested anonymity, said it walked away from negotiations because of concerns it would have to guarantee the 158-year-old US firm’s trading commitments.
The news came as US Treasury and Federal Reserve officials scrambled [...]