Wall Street Continues to Struggle

The recent collapse of Wall Street powerhouse Lehman Brothers, combined with the fall of Merrill Lynch sent stocks into a freefall. Brokers also potentially fear that the world's largest insurance company AIG, will go bankrupt. Wall Street has not encountered chaos like this since the Great Depression.

This financial crisis began due to billions of dollars in debt from rotten mortgage loans that have affected the balance sheets of one bank after another.

The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 504 points by the time the market closed. It was a loss of nearly 4.5 percent to 10,917.51 points. It's the first time since July they have finished under 11,000, and is recorded as the sixth-largest drop in history. The worst since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. About $700 billion disappeared from retirement plans, government pension funds and other investments.

Bank of America became the largest bank in the country as it inherited Merrill Lynch. Merrill was sold to BOA for 50 billion dollars or $29 a share. The S&P 500 fell 59 points or 4.71 percent to 1,192 points. Investors continue to worry that AIG could be the next to fall. AIG shares plummeted 61 percent.