Every year we reporters and editors gather in our smokeless newsrooms to debate the top stories of the year and come up with endless "top 10" lists.

This year, on the business desk at least, there was no need for debate because there was really only one story: a financial crisis that crept in with the new year and then grew into a monster, dominating the presidential campaign, cocktail parties, newspaper front pages and this Web site.

The meltdown, which is rooted in the runaway loan practices of the housing boom years, has spread around the world and drawn comparisons with the Great Depression with its severe market downturn and accompanying financial panic. Millions are likely to lose their homes, jobs or both before it is all over, and retirement savings have been decimated for generations of investors. Even those who have not been directly affected can't help but be spooked, casting a cloud of uncertainty over the nation's critical retailing sector.