Wall Street turmoil ripples across Main Street

Turmoil on Wall Street is pushing financial professionals to the therapist's couch, scaring them off power lunches and testing the mettle of small investors caught in the vortex.

With investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co agreeing to buy stricken rival Bear Stearns and the US Federal Reserve stepping in to prop up securities firms and poised to lower interest rates again, everyday Americans are feeling the squeeze.

The state of the economy is now the major issue in the campaign for the US presidential election in November and various polls show consumers are turning gloomy.

A Reuters/University of Michigan survey published on Friday showed nearly unanimous agreement among consumers that the economy was in recession, the director of the survey said.