AP - Saying he was "deeply sorry and ashamed," Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history and was immediately led off to jail in handcuffs to the delight of his seething victims.

AP - The net worth of American households fell by the largest amount in more than a half-century of record keeping during the fourth quarter of last year.

AP - General Motors Corp. says its restructuring plan is starting to take hold, improving the automaker's fortunes at least to the point that it won't need a $2 billion government loan installment that it had requested for March.