Fallout: The Financial Crisis

You're probably tired of hearing that the economy's taken its biggest hits since the Great Depression. And that's true. But our Senior Business Correspondent Bob Moon reminds us that we were in pretty good shape coming into this whole thing.

None of the experts are doing a particularly good job of predicting how the economy is going to turn out next year. So we sent Mitchell Hartman to check out what astrology has to say about our economic fate.

President-elect Barack Obama is working on his own stimulus package. Steve Chiotakis talks to Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer about where the new administration plans to put bailout money and when.

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation may be able to help some Madoff victims, with payments up to $500,000. Yet to be determined is whether investors whose money was directed to Madoff through other funds are eligible for SIPC claims. Jeremy Hobson reports.

The New York Stock Exchange will announce the new numbers for its emergency circuit breakers Wednesday. So, what's a circuit breaker exactly? Jeremy Hobson explains in the latest Decoder.

GMAC, the financial arm of General Motors, received a $6 billion bailout from the Treasury Department. Now General Motors is offering 5-year, no-interest loans to prospective car buyers with low credit scores in hopes of boosting sales. But as Bob Moon reports, the government bailout could cause trouble for General Motors down the road.

Since GMAC was allowed to become a stand-alone bank, the Bush administration has included it in the bank bailout. Steve Henn explains how the finance arm of General Motors started expanding service beyond car loans.

The start of a new year is a great time to adopt a positive attitude, and no one needs that boost now more than consumers. But building up consumer confidence again could take awhile. Bob Moon reports 2009 will be a year of recovery.

A few months ago, some analysts were claiming China's buying power could save the world. Today, prospects don't seem as cheerful. Scott Jagow talks to Scott Tong in Shanghai about the outlook for China next year.