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, America’s fourth-largest investment bank. It ended with Lehman’s 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 (BofA), an erstwhile Lehman suitor, in a $50 billion all-stock deal. American International Group (AIG) brought forward a potentially life-saving overhaul and went cap-in-hand to the Federal Reserve.

即使以至少一代人所经历的最坏的金融危机的标准来看，上周六及周日(9月14日)的事件仍是非同寻常的。那个周末开始于拯救美国第四大投行雷曼兄弟的交易有望达成，无论有或者没有政府的支持。然而却以雷曼兄弟的所有努力均告失败后，根据美国破产法案第11章申请破产保护而告终。其它脆弱的金融巨头同样努力地将自己卖出或是筹集足够的资金以避免与雷曼相同的命运。第三大投行美林以500亿美元全额换股交易将自己卖给了以前雷曼的收购者–美国银行。美国国际集团(AIG)正在提出一个潜在的挽救重整方案，并且毕恭毕敬地照美联储脸色行事。

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. Australia’s stockmarket opened sharply lower on Monday (most other Asian bourses were closed). 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，形势仍然非常不明朗。银行家们和监管者都在努力减小这次事件的辐射影响。他们准备应付非常糟糕的”黑色星期一”。澳大利亚股市周一大幅低开(其它大多数亚洲股票交易所都停牌了)。美国股指期货下跌非常厉害，同时美元汇率也走低。已经很高的信贷风险的息差变得更高。

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有用的单词和句子：

American finance　　美国金融

Nightmare on Wall Street　　华尔街噩梦

A weekend of high drama reshapes American finance　　一个极富戏剧性的周末重塑了美国的金融体系

The takeover of Merrill leaves just two large independent investment banks in America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.　　美林被收购后美国只剩下两家大型独立的投资银行–摩根斯坦利和高盛。