While the giants of the global economy wrestled over access to commercial paper and federal bank bailouts, John Fox of Rockland Credit Finance in Owings Mills saw three new clients this week whose bank loans fell through:

U.S. stock markets gyrated wildly yesterday as the world's top finance ministers met in Washington to hammer out a joint set of principles aimed at containing the financial crisis and restoring badly damaged confidence.

As more countries become enveloped by the financial pandemic that began in the United States, some in the Southeast Asian nation of Malaysia are warily watching the events with a dose of schadenfreude.

Patricia Ohlemiller packed up her Edmund Scientific Astroscan telescope last week and headed to the Gaithersburg iSold It eBay drop-off center. She hoped to recoup $150, minus commission, of its original $350 value.

In case you missed them, here are the top 10 personal finance stories from MarketWatch for the week of Oct. 6-10:

NEW YORK -- This big, brash, in-your-face city suddenly seems to have lost its mojo.

INVESTORS WORRIED THAT their portfolios are not only endangered from the sell-off on wall street but are also out of balance may need to consider making changes. The bear market has left some investors with too much money concentrated in certain areas of the market and too little in others.

The prospect of mortgage debt forgiveness will entice hundreds of thousands of homeowners into picking up the phone to play the home-preservation game of "Let's Make a Deal," beginning this fall.

EVERYWHERE I GO I can feel the tension. People naturally are concerned about their investment portfolios, but increasingly they're worried about the safety of their cash.

President bush this morning called on world governments to continue working together in a bid to stabilize collapsing financial markets.