AFP - Japan's Yamato Life Insurance is in the process of filing for bankruptcy protection, Jiji Press reported Friday.

Citigroup has ended its pursuit of Wachovia, allowing Wells Fargo to proceed with its $15 billion deal to buy the troubled Charlotte bank and emerge as one of the largest retail and commercial banks in the United States.

How did this crisis happen? Could it get worse? When will the pain end ? If you were looking for answers to those questions - and you should be - you'd seek out someone with knowledge of the past and a record for being right about the future.

Wall street's meltdown is taking a huge toll on U.S. managed mutual funds. Last month, investors pulled a record $72 billion from those funds and looked for safer places to stash their cash.

TOKYO, Sept. 10 -- Punctuating its worst week in history, Japan's main stock index plummeted nearly 10 percent Friday, as a mid-size Japanese life insurance company went bankrupt and fear-driven selling drove markets down across Asia.

U.S. stocks continued a relentless sell off at the opening bell today as fears of global recession continue to overtake government efforts to address the financial crisis.

The major indexes continued their epic slide in the wake of more heavy selling overseas.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- An index for U.S. import prices fell 3% in September -- the second consecutive month of declines -- and the largest decline since April 2003, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Junk Bonds look like treasures in the trash heap. Got the stomach for them?

A roundup of top personal finance stories from MarketWatch.com.