Anxiety is growing again over the health of the nation’s largest banks, and with Congress hesitant to commit more money, the Obama administration is exploring ways to strengthen them in the face of the ongoing recession. Results of the federal government’s “stress tests” on big banks are due May 4, and Wall Street is increasingly worried that they will find some banks in worse shape than expected.

Wall Street got the news it wanted on the economy’s biggest problems — banks and housing — and responded with a rally that hurtled the Dow Jones industrials up nearly 500 points.

Debt-guarantee program for banks gets extended Regulators yesterday extended by four months a temporary rescue program guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. banks’ debt. The program has boosted banks’ funding, but the money flow in the financial markets has not regained normal levels. The board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted 5-0 to extend through Oct. 31 a program, established in October at the height of the financial crisis, that aims to help thaw the freeze in bank-to-bank lending. The FDIC provides temporary insurance for loans between banks, guaranteeing the new debt in the event of payment default by the borrowing bank.

A major deregulation of the U.S. financial system in the late 1990s that allowed banks and brokerages to merge did not cause the current financial crisis, an industry executive said yesterday. But Karen H. Wimbish, president of Wachovia Securities’ Latin America group, said the resulting changes in the industry may have helped exacerbate the crisis.

Clearly this is an extraordinary time for the U.S. economy. The Bear Stearns acquisition by JPMorgan Chase on March 16, 2008, launched a chain of more than 30 events that have had a dramatic effect on the economy and that included unprecedented gov ernment intervention. Twenty-seven key events occurred between Labor Day and November, with new headlines emerging every weekend in September. And it does not appear to be over yet.

Reporting its third consecutive quarterly loss, Genworth Financial Inc. reported fourth-quarter losses of $321 million, or 74 cents per share, compared with $178 million, or 41 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. For the year, the Henrico County-based insurer reported losses of $572 million, or $1.32 a share, compared with $1.2 billion, or $2.58 per share, in 2007.

One Richmond-area bank expanded its business into Maryland. Another says it saved a homeowner from foreclosure. A third says it can continue making loans. These are three ways 19 Virginia banks are using a total of $4.1 billion received through the federal government’s Troubled Assets Relief Program. Community Bankers Trust Corp., based in western Henrico County, received $17.7 million from the Treasury on Dec. 19.

Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. completed their planned acquisitions of financial giants Merrill Lynch & Co. and Wachovia Corp., respectively. Bank of America all-stock purchase of Merrill Lynch was valued at $19.4 billion. Wells Fargo’s all-stock purchase of Wachovia was valued at $12.7 billion. Bank of America and Wachovia are major employers in the Richmond area, each with several thousands workers here. They also are favored by customers in Richmond and Virginia, holding top positions in the percent of deposits at banks.

Two men accused in connection with 11 bank robberies in six states this year—including one in Richmond—were arraigned in federal court yesterday afternoon. Malik Rahmel Dillard, 26, and Sylvester Fred Mullins, 35, each pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and bank robbery charges in a brief appearance before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson.