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Worst Crisis Since '30s, With No End Yet in Sight By JON HILSENRATH, SERENA NG and DAMIAN PALETTA The financial crisis that began 13 months ago has entered a new, far more serious phase. Lingering hopes that the damage could be contained to a handful of financial institutions that made bad bets on mortgages have evaporated. The latest turmoil comes not so much from the original problem -- troubled subprime mortgages -- but from losses on credit-default swaps, the insurance contracts sold by American International Group Inc. and others to those seeking protection against other companies' defaulting. The consequences for companies and chief executives who tarry -- hoping for better times in which to raise capital, sell assets or acknowledge losses -- are now clear and brutal, as falling share prices and fearful lenders send... [read full story]
