Now, Ambrosino is among the long list of investors whose fortunes were allegedly wiped out by Bernard Madoff. Like them, she's left hoping for a bailout that might never come.

She plans to sue Madoff but that could take years to work through the courts and yield little in the end. Her best hope to recoup some of her money is from the Securities Investor Protection Corp., an industry-funded organization set up by the government to protect investors from fraud.

But, here's the problem: SIPC does not have enough money to pay out all the claims that are sure to come from one of the biggest fraud cases to ever hit Wall Street. Securities attorneys say the organization has a reputation of being tough to squeeze money from, and each investor is only entitled to a maximum payout of $500,000 if a claim is approved.

SIPC officials say the books of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC are in complete disarray and could take six months or more to piece them together. With bills piling up and her bank account vanishing, the one thing Ambrosino and others caught in the alleged $50 billion fraud don't have is time.

"It feels like I'm drowning, and someone is saying 'we're going to save you, but we have to build the boat first,'" said Ambrosino, 55, who had $1.6 million invested with Madoff. "We can't wait for SIPC to go through all the papers."

The government created SIPC in 1970 to reimburse investors duped by brokerages in areas such as unauthorized trading or theft. SIPC is set up to cover losses of up to $500,000, and $100,000 of that amount can be claims for cash holdings that were lost.

Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorneys were in federal court on Friday to seek emergency relief for investors, including an asset freeze and the appointment of a receiver for Madoff's firm, in an alleged $50 billion fraud that could be the largest ever pinned on an individual.

A federal judge granted the agency's request, enabling it to seize the assets of Madoff's 48-year-old company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Madoff with a single count of criminal fraud, while the SEC accused him of civil fraud.

Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was influential and his self-named securities firm cut a high profile in Wall Street circles. SEC inspectors would have performed regular inspections of his securities brokerage operations as part of the agency's oversight program.

SEC officials stress that it was Madoff's separate and secretive investment-adviser business that was used to perpetrate the alleged scheme, and that examinations of the securities operations wouldn't necessarily have detected irregularities. The hedge fund business didn't register with the SEC until September 2006.

"If the SEC didn't come in and inspect (the Madoff hedge fund), then they have a hell of a lot to answer for," said James Cox, a Duke University law professor and securities law expert.

Other SEC critics questioned how Madoff could pull off, without the agency's notice, such an audacious fraud that prosecutors said amounted to a giant Ponzi scheme.

"The agency can't help but look bad," said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. "It does raise questions ... about the quality of the enforcement division generally. It's obviously something that the new (Obama) administration has to get to the bottom of."

The SEC said in a statement Friday that staff in its New York office conducted two inquiries — in 2005 and 2007 — into Madoff's company. Inspectors examined the securities brokerage operation in 2005, finding three violations of rules requiring brokers to obtain the best possible price for customer orders. In 2007, enforcement staff completed an investigation and did not refer the matter to the SEC commissioners for legal action, the statement said.

Most recently, as family members turned Madoff in after he confessed his deceit to them, the SEC said, the staff reopened its investigation of his company and the civil fraud action resulted on Thursday.

The SEC wasn't the only regulator to be criticized over the Madoff affair. Bill Singer, a securities lawyer in New York who represents investors and firms, cited the role of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities industry's self-policing organization.

The organization, known as FINRA, only has authority to inspect and discipline securities firms and brokers; its jurisdiction doesn't extend to investment advisory firms.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions has formed three task forces that will focus on short selling, unregulated financial products such as derivatives, and unregulated financial entities like hedge funds, the SEC said.

The Madrid, Spain-based organization's work is in response to recent calls by world leaders, meeting in Washington earlier this month, to better coordinate financial regulation.

The task forces will present reports at the next G-20 summit of world leaders in the spring of 2009, the SEC said. The G-20 includes wealthy nations as well as leading developing countries such as China, India and Brazil.

Some say he's a nuisance to the NBA, with more than $1 million in fines held up as evidence. Some Mavs fans say his constant baiting of officials merely leads to more calls against the team. Even his dancing skills have been panned, drawing an early round ousting from "Dancing With The Stars."

But now Cuban is facing a much more serious allegation: The government saying he's an inside trader.

Federal regulators filed a civil lawsuit Monday accusing Cuban of using confidential information to bail out of an investment and avoid about $750,000 in losses. Cuban denies doing anything wrong and insists his name will be cleared.

Even if he loses in court, Cuban's penalties would be strictly financial — perhaps close to $3 million. Martha Stewart settled the civil part of her insider-trading case, but ended up going to prison for criminal charges related to it. Cuban isn't facing criminal charges.

"It is a fascinating case," said Harold Degenhardt, who spent nine years prosecuting securities fraud as head of the Fort Worth office of the Securities & Exchange Commission and another 25 defending them in private practice. "This is a very difficult case for the SEC. I don't think they brought it lightly."

According to the SEC case, Cuban told his broker to sell all his shares of Mamma.com after the company's CEO confidentially told him of a stock offering that would dilute the value of all existing shares, including Cuban's. By selling before the information became public and the price fell, Cuban avoided losses exceeding $750,000, the SEC said in its lawsuit.

However, on Cuban's blog Tuesday was a statement from his attorneys that cites an interview with the CEO in which he says there was no agreement to keep information confidential.

Thus, Degenhardt said late Tuesday, this could turn into a he-said, she-said trial, and those are always risky.

Minutes before the closing bell Tuesday, a flurry of trades sent the Web search leader's stock plummeting 10 percent to close at $341.43.

Nasdaq said in a statement that erroneous orders routed to Nasdaq from another market center were responsible for the high volume of trades.

The exchange raised Google's closing price to $400.52 — a 5 percent gain for the day — and canceled all trades below that amount and above $425.29 between 3:57 p.m. and 4:02 p.m. EDT.

The reading, which doesn't reflect attitudes following Monday's steep stock market sell-off, remains near a 16-year low. The Conference Board reports Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 59.8 from a revised 58.5 in August.

Wall Street had expected a reading of 55.5, according to Thomson/IFR.

The Dow Jones industrials are up 215 at the 10,588 level.

Wall Street fears the government's plan to buy up toxic debt wouldn't be sufficient to resuscitate nearly frozen credit markets.

Investors also reviewed the buyout at Wachovia. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Monday Citigroup Inc. will acquire Wachovia's banking operations and that the deal protects Wachovia debtholders — a welcome prospect for investors given the strains in the credit markets. Investors had been worried about Wachovia's stability as it grappled with mounting losses over souring mortgage debt. Citi rose 69 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $20.84.

Investors appeared to find some reassurance in a move by the Federal Reserve and other countries' central banks to pump money into the world's credit markets. The Fed said it would boost the amount of 84-day cash loans available to U.S. banks to $75 billion, up from $25 billion. The plan will triple the supply of 84-day loans to $225 billion from $75 billion.

The news comes as President Bush and congressional leaders looked to shore up support for the rescue measure, which they and many on Wall Street believe is a difficult but necessary step to revive moribund credit markets. Banks and other financial houses are hesitant to lend to one another because of fears about bad mortgage debt on companies' books.

Tight lending conditions make it hard and expensive for businesses and consumers to get loans, which can hurt the economy.