EVEN by the standards of the worst financial crisis for at least a generation， the events of Sunday Spetember14th and the day before were extraordinary. The weekend began with hopes that a deal could be struck， with or without government backing， to save Lehman Brothers， Americas fourth-largest investment bank. It ended with Lehmans set for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the bank preparing to wind itself up after those efforts failed. Other vulnerable financial giants scrambled to sell themselves or raise enough capital to stave off a similar fate. Merrill Lynch， the third-biggest investment bank， sold itself to Bank of America ， an erstwhile Lehman suitor， in a $50 billion all-stock deal. American International Groupbrought forward a potentially life-saving overhaul and went cap-in-hand to the Federal Reserve.
即使以至少壹代人所經歷的最壞的金融危機的標準來看，上周六及周日的事件仍是非同尋常的。那個周末開始於拯救美國第四大投行雷曼兄弟的交易有望達成，無論有或者沒有政府的支持。然而卻以雷曼兄弟的所有努力均告失敗後，根據美國破產法案第11章申請破產保護而告終。其它脆弱的金融巨頭同樣努力地將自己賣出或是籌集足夠的資金以避免與雷曼相同的命運。第三大投行美林以500億美元全額換股交易將自己賣給了以前雷曼的收購者美國銀行。美國國際集團正在提出壹個潛在的挽救重整方案，並且畢恭畢敬地照美聯儲臉色行事。
On Sunday night the situation was still fluid， with bankers and regulators working to limit the fallout. They were girding themselves for a dreadful Monday in the markets. Australias stockmarket opened sharply lower on Monday . American stock futures were deep in the red too， and the dollar weaker. Spreads on risky credit， already elevated， widened further.
在周日晚上，形勢仍然非常不明朗。銀行家們和監管者都在努力減小這次事件的輻射影響。他們準備應付非常糟糕的黑色星期壹。澳大利亞股市周壹大幅低開。美國股指期貨下跌非常厲害，同時美元匯率也走低。已經很高的信貸風險的息差變得更高。
有用的單詞和句子：American finance
美國金融
Nightmare on Wall Street
華爾街噩夢A weekend of high drama reshapes American finance
壹個極富戲劇性的周末重塑了美國的金融體系
The takeover of Merrill leaves just two large independent investment banks in America， Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
美林被收購後美國只剩下兩家大型獨立的投資銀行摩根斯坦利和高盛。