Wall Street Presses the Reset Button

Welcome to the Morning After.

All eyes will be on Wall Street as the opening bell rings, to see how the markets respond following one of the most tumultuous weeks in the American financial sectors since the Great Depression.

The Dow lurched wildly last week, losing hundreds of points one day, making them back the next day, leaving traders dazed and confused and stockholders perplexed.

Here's a quick look at what's happening right now:

--Finance ministers from the Group of Seven, a group of seven industrialized nations, and the Central Bank governors huddled on a conference call today and approved the U.S. government's bailout of Wall Street. They released a statement this morning.

- CNBC has proclaimed the end to the investment banking era, saying the big investment banks like Morgan Stanley will be "plain, old vanilla banks."

- Japan's Mitsubishi will invest in Morgan Stanley, possibly signaling that outside investors see the former investment banks as more stable now, thanks to the government intervention.

- Thirty more stocks adding to the "no shorting" list, including General Electric and General Motors.

- Microsoft said it would buy back $40 billion worth of its stock and raise its dividend.

Check back here throughout the day for the latest financial and economic news.

If you have questions about how all this affects your money, e-mail them to us and we'll answer them.

Send them to Business editor Steve Levingston, at levingstons@washpost.com.

--Frank Ahrens

September 22, 2008; 9:22 AM ET  | Category:  business
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