Shares of investment banks fell early Friday morning as insurer American International Group Inc. said it lost $7.81 billion during the first quarter because of continued weakness in the credit markets.

Fannie Mae said late Thursday it will sell about $4.5 billion of common stock and preferred stock to raise cash after posting a $2.2 billion loss for the first quarter.

Shares of investment banks fell Thursday as Bear Stearns Cos. said it could face bankruptcy if shareholders do not approve a sale of the company in a vote May 29.

Amid distress in the credit markets, Congress is examining the regulation of Wall Street investment banks by the Securities and Exchange Commission and considering whether it should be tightened.

Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. recovered after falling earlier Tuesday, as a Deutsche Bank analyst said the problems still exist for the investment bank, though the worst may be over.

Shares of investment banks fell Tuesday as UBS said it lost $11 billion during the first quarter and Merrill Lynch & Co. said the amount of risky assets it has on its books increased during the first quarter.

Shares of investment banks mostly rose after the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by a quarter of a point Wednesday.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider an appeal by a Lehman Brothers subsidiary that is fighting a $10 million tax bill from Delaware.

Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia this week announced 12,400 job cuts, and the number of pink slips is likely to rise as losses mount and the economy works its way out of its malaise.

A look at job cuts announced in recent weeks by U.S. banks:

New York's attorney general and securities regulators in several U.S. states are probing auction-rate securities and the role Wall Street firms had in enticing investors into the troubled $330 billion market.

The Dow and S&P 500 snapped a two-day losing streak Thursday, led by technology stocks after an upgrade on the chip sector.

Citigroup  is expected to report another big quarterly loss on April 18, but the actual numbers may be almost secondary.

Lehman Brothers Holdings has liquidated three floundering investment funds that lost value and ended up taking $1 billion of assets onto its balance sheet, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.