Stocks plunged for a second straight day Thursday, falling to a range not seen in more than five years as financial and energy stocks tumbled while demand for the safety of government debt spiked to historic levels.

Democratic leaders in Congress sidetracked legislation to bail out the auto industry Thursday and demanded the Big Three develop a plan assuring the money would make them economically viable.

Citigroup Inc. shares tumbled below $5 a share Thursday to their lowest level in more than 15 years, a sign that a Saudi prince's decision to boost his stake in the bank has failed to galvanize confidence among increasingly anxious investors.

Jarred by new jobless alarms, Congress raced to approve legislation Thursday to keep unemployment checks flowing through the December holidays and into the new year for a million or more laid-off Americans whose benefits are running out.

Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures for about 16,000 households during the holiday season.

The New York Times Co. is slashing its quarterly dividend by 74 percent to preserve cash as the advertising slump worsens.

Investors flooded into government debt again on Thursday, launching the 30-year Treasury bond to a huge one-day gain as worries mounted about an auto industry collapse.

In 2006, Alaska desperately needed cash to complete a museum featuring a mummified bison and other natural wonders of the frozen north. So the state dipped into its share of the landmark 1998 tobacco settlement.

Oil prices on Thursday hit levels not seen in more than three years and retail gasoline prices are now below $2 across nearly half of the country on dour economic reports suggesting a painful economic pullback.

A restructuring expert overseeing the liquidation of Lehman Brothers will replace Richard Fuld as chief executive on Dec. 31, Lehman lawyer Harvey Miller said Thursday.