Executives at companies from General Motors Corp. to Domino’s Pizza Inc. and Novell Inc. say Wall Street’s upheaval may stunt demand as a credit crunch ripples through the U.S. economy.
The cost of borrowing in U.S. dollars surged to the highest level since 2001 following Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse, Merrill Lynch & Co.’s takeover by Bank of America Corp. and a cash shortage at American International Group Inc. that threatened to plunge the insurer into bankruptcy. The U.S. government agreed late Tuesday to lend AIG as much as $85 billion in exchange for a 79.9 percent stake in the company.
