Treasury and Federal Reserve actions:

Mar. 16: J.P. Morgan Chase's (JPM: 40.56, -0.69, -1.67%) takeover of Bear Stearns approved, with $29 billion in Federal Reserve financing.
Mar. 18: Target for federal-funds rate cut by 75 basis points to 2.25%.
May 2: In conjunction with the Swiss National Bank and the European Central Bank, amounts eligible under biweekly Term Auction Facility expanded to $75 billion from $50 billion.
July 13: New York Federal Reserve authorized to lend directly to Fannie Mae (FNM: 0.91, -0.01, -1.08%) and Freddie Mac (FRE: 1.03, +0.00, +0.00%) should such lending prove necessary.
July 15: Fannie and Freddie backstopped by feds.
July 30: Primary Dealer Credit Facility and Term Security Lending Facility extended to Jan. 30, 2009; auctions on options of $50 billion of draws on the Term Securities Lending Facility introduced; 84-day Term Auction Facility loans as complement to 28-day loans introduced; and swap line with European Central Bank increased to $55 billion from $50 billion.
Sept. 7: Fannie and Freddie placed into conservatorship.
Sept. 16: Agreed to lend AIG (AIG: 2.09, +0.18, +9.42%) up to $85 billion at a penalty rate to prevent the insurer from going bankrupt.
Sept. 19: Money-market
assets already on deposit guaranteed.
Sept. 29: Jointly announced a plan with central banks of Canada, U.K., Japan, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland and the euro zone to provide liquidity for quarter-end reporting requirements.
Oct. 3: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 passed. The legislation authorized Treasury to acquire up to $700 billion in distressed securities.
Oct. 7: Commercial Paper Funding Facility created to provide liquidity to term funding markets.
Oct. 8: Target for federal-funds rate cut to 1.5% in an intermeeting move.
Oct. 13: Jointly announced a plan with central banks of U.K., Japan, Switzerland and Eurozone to provide unlimited liquidity to banking system and to effectively guarantee interbank loans.
Oct. 21: Money Market Investor Funding Facility created to provide liquidity to money-market investors. The New York Federal Reserve stood to provide funding for dollar-denominated certificates of deposit and highly rated commercial paper with maturities of 90 days or less; amounts can extend up to $540 billion.
Oct. 29: Target for federal-funds rate cut to 1%.
Oct. 29: A $120 billion swap line created with the central banks of Brazil, South Korea, Singapore and Mexico to ease the dollar-buying panic in those countries and elsewhere.