Citigroup waved a white flag late Thursday as it bowed out of the battle with Wells Fargo over which bank would buy ailing Wachovia. Early last week, Wells Fargo had backed out of talks as the federal government brokered a deal that arranged for Citigroup to pay $2.2 billion for Wachovia’s banking operations and $12 billion in stock to the FDIC. Later in the week, after the deal with Citi had been agreed upon, Wells Fargo came back and offered $15 billion in stock to buy all of Wachovia.
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Mattresses and shoeboxes don't have quite the security measures that banks have, yet 
Banks offering plans that deposit money into a savings account every time you spend money are encouraging their customers to build up their savings account, which is a good thing. But when the 
Scooping up troubled banks is the new thing to do for financial institutions that have managed to keep themselves above water, and things are getting competitive out there. Failing Wachovia was the apple of Citigroup's eye until Wells Fargo tried to swoop on its courting efforts. The game of tug-of-war is an important one, as banks compete to see who will survive the economic crisis and come out in a stronger position than when it started. 
Washington Mutual's CEO Alan Fishman was hired on Sept. 7, less than three weeks before the bank failed and was purchased by JP Morgan Chase. JP Morgan hasn't decided the fate of the newbie CEO, but we can bet if he gets the boot he'll walk with much more than the $60,000 he was paid during those three weeks. 
While there's no doubt the heads on Capitol Hill are spinning with what's been happening in our economy, it's not exactly a picnic for those of us feeling like we have a million and one unanswered questions. Watching big banks collapse and listening to what the news tells us was a horrendous day for the market, followed by the worst day ever, doesn't do much for the people anxiously sitting on the sidelines. Here are three things you can do right now to get a grip on your finances. 
The week of Sept. 14 was the highest-rated one in CNBC’s 19-year history, with 502,000 viewers during the business day, according to a piece in this weekend's 
Recent months have brought many changes in the banking industry, some that have included the disappearance of names that we thought would carry on for as long as we needed banks. The government has been a pivotal hand in orchestrating deals involving one bank buying a suffering bank at bargain prices; do you know which busted banks are now under the umbrella of other institutions? Take the quiz! 
