Banks across the US imposed stricter terms on all sorts of lending from home mortgages to credit cards as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1930s took its toll on the economy.

On Monday, the Federal Reserve said that its latest quarterly survey of bank lending practices showed an increasing number of banks tightening credit norms across a wide range of loan products. As many as 60% of the banks surveyed reported that they had enforced stricter lending standards on credit card debt while 65% of them said they had imposed tougher conditions for other types of consumer loans.

However the biggest impact of tighter lending norms was felt on various types of business loans with more than 85% banks reporting that they had imposes stricter conditions for “commercial and business” loans. Almost all banks surveyed – the figure going up to 95% – reported tougher standards for the lines of credit generally extended to large and medium-sized businesses.

The Federal Reserve conducted the survey over the first two weeks of October which would have been too early to show the impact of a series of bank bail-out measures taken by the government so as to ease the credit crunch in the finance markets and jumpstart the lending process.

Circuit City Stores Inc has announced that it would be shutting down 155 stores in the United States and undertaking major restructuring in the wake of falling cash position and stricter credit terms.

After the closure of 155 stores Circuit City will still be operating 566 outlets. Analysts believe that the measure will give Circuit City enough legroom to survive the holiday shopping season but after the next few months it might still have to seek bankruptcy protection. Along with pulling the shutters on 155 of its stores, Circuit City has also announced that it will explore all restructuring options in an attempt to cut costs. The company has already estimated that its store closings alone would cut down its US workforce by 17% which would also mean its exit from markets such as Phoenix and Kansas City.

Circuit City Stores is the second-largest chain if consumer electronic goods in United States. However it has continued to post losses in five of the last six straight quarters and has lost valuable market share to rivals like Best Buy Co and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. the company was compelled to take the step of store closures in order to deal with tightened credit terms following the global finance crisis and the consequent credit crunch

US auto sales for the month of October touched almost the lowest levels in the past 25 years amidst concerns that the worst was not yet over and doubts if major auto companies will be able to survive the long downturn.

Early sales result released by industry estimates revealed that auto sales in United States had fallen to their weakest monthly level since 1983. The plunge was led by GM Motors Corp which registered a steep 45% drop in sales for the month of October. After adjustment of the figures for the US population, GM said that last month was the weakest since the close of the Second World War.

Sales figures of other automakers also revealed a downward trend. While Toyota Motor Co registered a decline in sales by 29%, Honda Motor Co saw a fall of 25% and Nissan a drop of 33% in sales.

The latest data on auto sales in the United States has raised the possibility of industry-wide sales of cars and light trucks falling below 900000 units in October after dropping below the 1 million-mark in September for the first time in fifteen years.

Auto sales in Europe too are facing difficult times. While Spain witnessed a drop of as much as 40% in auto sales for the month of October, the figures in Italy were off by 19%.

Media giant Viacom Inc reported a 37% drop in third quarter earnings in the wake of a severe advertising slump which has affected the bottomline of major media companies across the United States.

Viacom’s results for the third quarter showed that net profit dropped to $401 million or 65 cents a share down from $641 million or 96 cents a share a year ago. revenues however rose by 4% to $3.4 billion as some of the impact of the advertising crunch was offset by stronger affiliate revenue, the DVD release of “Iron Man” as well as better-than-expected sales of it popular Rock Band video game.

Among the most important television networks owned by Viacom are MTV and VH1 besides other channels like Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. The media company also owns the Paramount movie studio.

Viacom executives blamed the decline in earnings on a shrinking advertising market which has greatly suffered from a downturn in spending by automotive, retail and financial services companies. Industry experts predict that the advertising market will continue to be under pressure in the early weeks of the fourth quarter as well, Viacom meanwhile is planning to jumpstart its key networks like MTV and VH1 with new series and more popular features like games and comment windows.

The US Treasury Department has turned down an appeal by GM Motors for $10 billion aid to finance its proposed merger with Chrysler, according to sources close to the discussions.

A report in the online edition of New York Times on Sunday revealed that a request by GM Motors for Treasury aid worth $10 billion to help finance its planned tie-up with Chrysalis has been turned down, citing sources close to the deal. Treasury officials have been reluctant to broaden the scope of the $700 billion finance plan, already approved by the Congress in September, to include industrial companies or to play an explicit role in the proposed merger between GM Motors and Chrysler which could cost the auto industry tens of thousands of jobs.

The Bush administration instead plans to speed up a $25 billion loan program for fuel-efficient vehicles which has also been approved by the Congress and will be administered by the Energy Department. Another reason why the Treasury could be hesitant in making a definite commitment to the auto giant might be to avoid taking any decision that might conflict with the policies of the new presidential administration. Until the government role becomes clear, it is unlikely that any big investor will be willing to back the planned merger between GM Motors and Chrysler.