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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday agreed to provide insurance giant American International Group Inc. with a loan of up to $37.8 billion, on top of one made to the troubled company last month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee demanded answers on Thursday from the Federal Reserve about reported lavish spending by insurer American International Group Inc after it received an $85 billion rescue loan.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prudential Financial Inc is the latest major insurer to warn its quarterly profits would miss forecasts, as the shares of rivals were pummeled on concern they would need to raise capital.

LONDON - Oil prices tumbled to a one-year low below US$83 a barrel Friday in European trading as fears mounted that governments around the world would be unable to keep the ongoing financial crisis from causing a severe global economic downturn.

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 - 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.

LONDON - Oil prices plummeted to a one-year low below $83 a barrel Friday in European trading as investor fears of a severe global economic downturn caused by the crisis in credit markets sparked a panicked sell-off of both crude and equities.

NEW YORK - The stunning collapse in oil markets accelerated Friday, sending a barrel of crude plunging below $78 as investors grow more pessimistic about resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis.

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - International investors counted the cost of their involvement with Iceland Friday after a meltdown in its banking system turned the country from a popular financial player to a pauper in just a few days.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund, in its bleakest forecast in years, said on Wednesday the world economy was set for a major downturn with the United States and Europe either in or on the brink of recession.

NEW YORK - Governments around the world have slashed interest rates and ramped up their lending to unprecendented levels, but banks are still charging each other extremely high borrowing rates — a bad sign for the credit markets that remain close to paralysis.

NEW YORK - Oil prices briefly plunged below $79 a barrel Friday, dropping to the lowest level in nearly 13 months as investors grow more pessimistic about the prospects for resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis.

LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices slumped Friday to one-year lows under 80 dollars per barrel, striking 75 dollars in London, amid a global equities meltdown that sparked fears over demand for energy, traders said.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Four miles under the ocean's surface off Brazil's lush coast lie billions of barrels of recently discovered light crude — a treasure that could transform the country into an oil superpower.

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Stocks plunged in early Friday trading in line with markets in Europe and Asia but then recovered some ground, with investors looking to an imminent G7 finance ministers meeting in Washington, D.C. for a further policy response to the deepening global credit crisis.

TOKYO - Japan is set to propose to the world's leading industrialized nations that a joint fund be set up to give emergency loans to nations hit by the growing financial crisis, the finance minister said Friday.

NEW YORK - General Motors Corp. shares hit their lowest price since 1949 in the opening minutes of trading Friday as financial turmoil and a weakening global auto market heightened worries that the automaker may be unable to pull out of its nosedive before it runs out of cash.

TOKYO - Mazda denied Saturday that a decision had been made by troubled Ford Motor Co. to sell its stake in the Japanese automaker, but didn't rule out a possible deal.

DUBLIN, Ireland - Davey McKeever was down to his last bet slip of the night, crumpled in a sweaty fist, at the Shelbourne Park greyhound track. The remnants of McKeever's first unemployment check would rise or fall on the ironically named Nest Egg.