U.S. stock futures pointing to further losses

Ahead of a Group of Seven meeting of world leaders, S&P 500 futures fell 28.2 points to 884.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 30 points to 1,242.00.
Dow industrial futures dropped 253 points.

WASHINGTON - The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression is claiming another casualty: American-style capitalism.

Since the 1930s, U.S. banks were the flagships of American economic might, and emulation by other nations of the fiercely free-market financial system in the United States was expected and encouraged. But the market turmoil that is draining the nation's wealth and has upended Wall Street now threatens to put the banks at the heart of the U.S. financial system at least partly in the hands of the government.

The Bush administration is considering a partial nationalization of some banks, buying up a portion of their shares to shore them up and restore confidence as part of the $700 billion government bailout. The notion of government ownership in the financial sector, even as a minority stakeholder, goes against what market purists say they see as the foundation of the American system.

President Bush has tried to strike an awkward balance between reassurance and reality about the nation's financial crisis. On Friday, he will do so again, but the repetition raises the question: to what effect?

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino says the president will let Americans know they "should be confident that every effort is being taken to stabilize our financial system."