On Sept. 7, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's seizure by the government prompted a wave of financial companies and banks reporting heavy losses or even bankruptcy.

Since then, dozens of American -- and international -- companies have faced heavy losses or buyouts, asked the government for huge loans or filed for bankruptcy.

By now, the list of heavily affected businesses does not only include financial companies but also those of other industries -- all of which have become the (corporate) victims of the financial and economic crisis.

In the financial sector, Bank of America agreed to buy the tattered Merrill Lynch on Sept. 14. On the same day, the former prestigious investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, as the federal government refused to step in.

A day after that was Sept. 15, another so-called "Black Monday," and the next day, AIG Corp., the world's biggest insurer, had to be bailed out by the U.S. Federal Reserve for $85 billion.

While the investment bank Bear Stearns had already collapsed in March 2008 and was taken over by JP Morgan, as a consequence of the current crisis, the remaining investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley decided to become bank holding companies. Or, as Theo Francis wrote for BusinessWeek.com: "The standalone investment bank died quietly Sunday, Sept. 22, 2008, after a brief but dramatic illness. It was 75 years old."

Finally, Citigroup, which has had net losses of more than $20 billion over the past year, is shrinking its work force by 20 percent from its 2007 peak of 375,000.

Another sector that is strongly affected by the economic crisis is the auto industry: All three major U.S. automakers -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- have asked for access to the Federal Reserve's new short-term lending program.

GM's situation is the worst, with shares down 90.5 percent over the last year and a current shortage of cash. According to the New York Times, if the company were to file for bankruptcy, it would rank as one of the biggest bankruptcies ever.

The auto industry's problems go beyond the current financial crisis. However, the crisis reinforced them, because auto sales generally decline sharply in a bad economic situation.

The economic crisis also spreads to the technological sector with Circuit City, the No. 2 U.S. consumer electronics retailer, filing for bankruptcy last Monday, only one week after the retailer announced it would close 155 U.S. stores and cut 17 percent of its U.S. work force.

Sun Microsystems, a server computer seller, also recently reported that it would lay off 5,000 to 6,000 people -- 15 to 18 percent of its work force -- because of the economic situation.

According to the New York Times, other important technology companies hit by the financial turmoil are Cisco Systems, the largest provider of network equipment, and the world's largest chip-producer Intel: Both reported that that their sales for the current quarter have dropped with both consumer and corporate customers spending less money for technological equipment

One of the most prominent companies affected by the sharp economic downturn is Starbucks. After the coffee chain had in July announced it would close 600 store over the next year, the company recently reported its fourth-quarter earnings plunged a dramatic 97 percent.

For Newsweek writer Daniel Gross, the decline of Starbucks in the current economy is no coincidence: "Starbucks' frothy treats provided the fuel for the boom, the caffeine that enabled deal jockeys to stay up all hours putting together offering papers for CDOs (collateralized debt obligations), and helped mortgage brokers work overtime processing dubious loan documents."

But it is not only the big companies that are facing problems these days: In a list of small businesses unable to bear the financial load, CNNMoney.com enumerates seven iconic brands that died this year.

The list includes Domain Home Furnishings; the grocery-store snack brand Mother's Cookies; the six-store sporting goods local chain Carolina Custom Golf; the luxury RVs maker Alfa Leisure; the independent five-store book chain Olsson's Books and Records; Minneapolis' Theatre de la Jeune Lune; and the New York Sun newspaper. Four of the seven companies closed in September and October.

Besides these companies, there are hundreds of other small businesses that had to close because of economic crisis, and even more that remain struggling. And there seems to be less hope that the economic situation -- thus, the situation for all those businesses -- will get better anytime soon.