Bank of America Reaches Deal for Merrill  —  In a rushed bid to ride out the storm sweeping American finance, 94-year-old Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed late Sunday to sell itself to Bank of America Corp. for roughly $44 billion.  —  The deal, which was being worked out in 48 hours of frenetic negotiating …

Barclays Walks from Lehman Deal; Likelihood for Transaction Narrows  —  The fate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s darkened early Sunday afternoon after Barclays PLC, the sole remaining bidder for the 158-year-old Wall Street firm, told federal regulators that it is walking away from a transaction, people familiar with the matter say.

Lehman Expected to File for Bankruptcy Protection  —  According to people briefed on the matter, Lehman Brothers will file for bankruptcy protection on Sunday night, in the largest failure of an investment bank since the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert 18 years ago.

MAC HATER HAS A LOUSY ‘IMAGE’  —  MAG FOTOG IN DIRTY TRICK TO TURN POL ‘EVIL’  —  Controversial celebrity photographer Jill Greenberg, a self-professed “hard-core Dem,” deliberately took a series of unflattering shots of Republican nominee John McCain for the current cover of The Atlantic - and then bragged about it on a blog.

A.I.G. Seeks $40 Billion in Fed Aid to Survive  —  The American International Group is seeking a $40 billion bridge loan from the Federal Reserve, as it faces a potential downgrade from credit ratings agencies that could spell its doom, a person briefed on the matter said Sunday night.