The Treasury Department said Monday it had invested $15 billion in another seven banks, including two companies that recently completed large takeovers of other banks.
Despite a bleak economic environment featuring wide-ranging layoffs and rising unemployment, the nation's premier law enforcement agency is touting "one of the largest hiring blitzes in our 100-year history."
The credit freeze afflicting America's small businesses shows no signs of thawing. In the last three months of 2008, the Small Business Administration's flagship loan-guarantee program backed less than half the number of loans it approved a year earlier - a sign that fewer entrepreneurs are getting financing to start or expand their ventures.
Stocks fell Monday, retreating after last week's big rally, as investors digested President-elect Barack Obama's stimulus plan, monthly auto sales and surging oil prices.
President-elect Barack Obama was set Monday to begin the push for a massive package of tax cuts and spending proposals aimed at reviving an economy mired in recession.