♦ The Dow's huge drop yesterday led to an massive sell-off overnight in Asia. What will happen today is anybody's guess. [Marketwatch]
♦ Citigroup reported a $2.8 billion loss for the third quarter. [WSJ]
♦ Merrill Lynch did even worse, reporting $5.2 billion in losses for the quarter. [Bloomberg]

Andrew Cuomo is waging attack on AIG and demanding the company stop "unwarranted and outrageous expenditures" and "recover" past ones that were "unreasonable." [DB]
♦ Rumors posted by Dealbreaker about massive losses for Ken Griffin's Citadel led the hedge fund to make a statement and acknowledge Citadel's funds are down between 26 and 30 percent on the year. [WSJ]
♦ Hedge funder Richard Perry announced his fund is off 9 percent and he's cutting staff. [NYP]
♦ The SEC has extended the ban on short-selling. [Bloomberg]
♦ Credit Suisse and UBS will get $14.1 billion from the Swiss authorities or from outside investors including the Qatar Investment Authority. [NYT]
♦ JPMorgan Chase agreed to allow bankrupt Washington Mutual access $4.4 billion to help pay creditors. [DB]
♦ Quiz of the day: Which does better in a down economy, Coke or Pepsi? [Guardian]