small business credit

The biggest Wall Street banks slashed their small business loan portfolios by 9% between 2008 and 2009, more than double the rate at which they cut their overall lending, according to a government report released Thursday.

The small business credit market is about to take another major hit. Six weeks after Advanta abruptly froze all of its 1 million credit-card accounts, lending giant CIT Group hangs in limbo and is reportedly eying bankruptcy.