Stocks stared into the abyss, again, and finally jumped in, as the financial crisis that has been percolating for weeks finally overwhelmed Wall Street. The Dow posted its largest one day drop since just after the September 11 attacks.

The day started with an orderly sell-off that picked up steam in the second half of the session. No sector escaped the carnage.

The Dow lost 504 points, or 4.42%, to 10917. The Nasdaq Composite Index fared slightly better, giving up 81.36 points, or 3.60%, to 2179. The S&P 500 Index now finds itself below its July lows, shedding 59 points, or 4.71%, to 1192.

There were historic deals, and non-deals, all weekend long, as two of Wall Street’s most revered investment banks threw in the towel. Lehman Brothers (LEH) declared bankruptcy after it couldn't find a partner who would take on its problems. Merrill Lynch (MER) fared

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Big miners drag down share market THE Australian share market was weaker at noon as losses in the resources sector continued to weigh, although banking stocks recovered. At 12 noon AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 26.5 points to 5114.4 while the broader All Ordinaries shed 30.6 points to 5230.5. The September share price index futures contract was 20 points lower at 5118 on a volume of 20,255 contracts. During the morning, the S&P/ASX200 index had reached a low of 5060.6, close to its 2008 trough of 5039.60 reached on March 17. Macquarie Equities adviser Helen Spencer said banking stocks had recovered from their morning lows as investors took heart from increased confidence that the central bank was unlikely to raise interest rates again this year. “While the market pulling is down a bit because of resources, the financials have had a great result,” Ms Spencer said. “Talk about holding interest rates steady would also be ...

By Mike Caggeso Associate Editor Baosteel Group Corp., China’s largest steel producer, will pay $4.2 billion in cash for an 80% stake in a new Guangzhou-based steel mill that will merge two rivals, Shaoguan Iron & Steel Group and Guangzhou Iron & Steel Group. China is already the world’s top steel consumer and producer, churning out one-third of the global supply. This newly formed company, Guangdong Iron & Steel Group Corp., will boost Baosteel’s capacity by 33% to 40 million tons. Specifically, it will help supply steel-hungry Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR: TM) and Honda Motor Co. (ADR: HMC), both of which have plants in the city of Guangzhou. Baosteel also wants to build a new 10 million ton-capacity mill in Zhanjiang, Reuters reported. Story continues below…...