The government has acted aggressively, but not on the underlying reasons that the economy got into this mess.

Significant losses that Lehman Brothers suffered from its part of the acquisition of Archstone-Smith, a national apartment portfolio, helped to bring down the investment bank.

Fluidigm’s offering, which it hopes to make on Thursday unless market conditions force it to withdraw, is underwritten by Morgan Stanley.

Fearing a global financial crisis, the Federal Reserve reversed course and agreed to bail out the American International Group.

The great assortment of assets at the American International Group reflects the determination of Maurice R. Greenberg, the man who built A.I.G. into an empire spanning the globe.

Goldman Sachs posted quarterly profit that beat analysts’ expectations, while Morgan Stanley reported profit that was even stronger than Goldman’s.

After an initial drop, stocks rose, overcoming an initial drop after the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates steady.

Executives from General Motors and the Ford Motor Company pressed their case on Tuesday for $25 billion in federal loans in a series of high-level meetings with lawmakers in Washington.

The government has acted aggressively, but not on the underlying reasons that the economy got into this mess.

After some early missteps, Ben S. Bernanke and Henry M. Paulson Jr. have acted aggressively, but neither has done much to deal with the problems that caused the crisis.