A glass of water drawn from John Fenton’s underground well outside his rural log home built against a rocky ridge looks and tastes as clear and refreshing as any bottled water.

G20 finance leaders on Saturday took aim at excessive bank pay and risk-taking at the root of the financial crisis and insisted trillions of dollars of emergency economic supports would be needed for some time.

Three decades ago, the Yasnogorsk Machine-Building Factory stamped out thousands of pounds of steel and iron into parts for wagons, pumps and locomotives for Russia’s mining industry.

The stock market has lost some of its swagger, and it seems unlikely to regain it anytime soon. A six-month rally that sent Wall Street’s major indexes up more than 45 percent from their March lows has hit the wall.

Where do we go from here? A year after edging dangerously close to free fall, there are signs the economy is regaining a foothold. But Americans’ sense of financial security is badly shaken and the nation confronts questions that defy quick or comfortable answers.

Wall Street’s mettle will be tested this week as traders return from summer vacations to resurfacing signs of weakness after a six-month rally for stocks.

Whenever Alice Steinhardt walks into her office, her phone’s message light is red.

Every day it’s a battle. The nearly 15 million unemployed Americans won’t enjoy Labor Day as a relaxing respite from work. Instead, they’ll once again need to prepare to get up, hit the pavement and keep hunting for a job.