Treasury weighs next move amid signs of global recession - Fort Worth Star Telegram
WASHINGTON — The global financial crisis deepened on yet another frantic Friday as the Treasury Department weighed expanding its rescue efforts to include insurance firms and investors everywhere sought refuge amid strong signs of a coming global recession.
Stock markets around the world took another pounding, with Asian exchanges losing double-digit percentages again. U.S. stocks zigged, then zagged on another volatile day of trading, but didn't crash as some feared.
While the Dow closed down more than 300 points, shares of giant insurers rose Friday on word that the Treasury may expand its planned cash injections for banks to include life insurers, on the grounds that like big banks, they're too important to fail.
"This is in line with Treasury's plan to increase confidence in the nation's financial institutions," said former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, the president and chief executive of the American Council of Life Insurers. "Life insurers want to make sure consumers don't delay acting on their financial and retirement security needs out of concerns prompted by current economic conditions."
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