“Semper Fidelis”, or “Semper Fi” (IPA: s?m p?r ?f??) for short, is Latin for “Always faithful.” Best known to Americans as the motto of the United States Marine Corps, this phrase has served as a slogan for many families and entities, in many countries, dating at least as far back as the 14th century. Within the groups below, users are listed in chronological order according to when they are believed to have adopted the motto; however, in many cases dates of adoption are not well established.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday as worry about the health of the U.S. banking sector after Friday’s collapse of IndyMac outweighed earlier optimism over the government’s plan to stabilize Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM - News) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News).On Sunday, the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve said they would lend money and buy equity if needed to rescue the two pillars of the U.S. housing market, sending shares soaring early on Monday. >

But the gains soon fizzled as analysts noted any direct government investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would further dilute existing shares — the last thing investors want.

Regional banks were also under fire as investors fretted about the possibility of more bank failures after regulators seized the mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc (NYSE:IMB - News) late Friday, following withdrawals by panicked clients.

National City Corp (NYSE:NCC - News), responding to market rumors, said in a statement it was “experiencing no usual depositor or credit activity.” But the Midwestern banking institution’s stock still plunged 14.71 percent to $3.77 after the statement.

Shares of other regional banks such as Washington Mutual (NYSE:WM - News) and M&T Bank Corp (NYSE:MTB - News) also plummeted, with Washington Mutual down 34.8 percent at $3.23, and M&T Bank down 15.6 percent at $58.82. The S&P financials sub-index (^GSPF - News) fell 5 percent to 239.22, its lowest level since October 1998.

“Bottom line is the market is in no mood to give anyone any benefit of the doubt right now,” said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Kenny pointed to the long-term impact of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s poor performance as the key drivers of investor uncertainty.

“I mean, it’s nice to know that the government is willing to take unorthodox steps to calm the markets and to infuse confidence on the part of the investors, but this is a long road ahead of us here,” he said.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) fell 45.35 points, or 0.41 percent, to 11,055.19, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (^SPX - News) lost 11.19 points, or 0.90 percent, to 1,228.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) slipped 26.21 points, or 1.17 percent, to 2,212.87.

After the closing bell, General Motors (NYSE:GM - News) shares rose

as much as 5 percent on news that Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will announce the automaker’s second restructuring package in six weeks, in an attempt to cut costs and shore up investor confidence in the company. GM closed at $9.38, down 5.4 percent on the NYSE.

In the regular session, the Dow’s drop was cushioned by the performance of defensive stocks like McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD - News) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - News), which tend to weather economic downturns because consumers still buy their products even in tough times.

McDonald’s shares rose 1.3 percent to $58.09, while Coca-Cola gained 1.4 percent to $50.96 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Apple shares (NasdaqGS:AAPL - News) gained 0.8 percent to $173.88 on Nasdaq after the company said it sold 1 million units of the new iPhone in its initial weekend, in line with analysts’ estimates.

On the other hand, shares of Fannie Mae fell 5.1 percent to $9.73, while those of Freddie Mac slid 8.3 percent to $7.11, both in NYSE trading. Both stocks had risen more than 20 percent in trading before the opening bell.

Among regional banks, Fifth Third Bancorp (NasdaqGS:FITB - News) tumbled 10.6 percent to $11.16 on the Nasdaq.

In other news, activist shareholder Carl Icahn blasted Yahoo Inc (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News) on Monday for rejecting his joint proposal with Microsoft Corp (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News), saying management was more focused on who would run the Internet company than on the details of the offer.

Shares of Yahoo fell 4.2 percent to $22.57 and Microsoft shares dipped 0.4 percent to $25.15, both on the Nasdaq.

Trading volume was low on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.41 billion shares changing hands, below last year’s estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion, while on Nasdaq, about 2.07 billion shares traded, below last year’s daily average of 2.17 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 3 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, more than two stocks fell for every one that rose.

Now that the federal government has thrown a lifeline to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers could be on the hook for billions more if the crisis of confidence spreads.There were encouraging signs Monday for the rescue plan, but also signs of concern — notably on Wall Street, where shares of the two companies slumped further — that the plan won’t be enough.

Other banks are already teetering: National City Corp. shares fell nearly 15 percent on rumors of financial trouble, even though it said it was experiencing no unusual depositor or creditor activity. And Washington Mutual Inc.’s shares fell 35 percent, to a paltry $3.23 amid worries about whether it had enough cash to handle the mortgage market downturn. WaMu said that it did.

And worried customers lined up Monday to pull cash out of their accounts at IndyMac Bank, seized on Friday by the federal government.

Stocks decline as worries about financials persist

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street extended its slump into yet another week Monday as investors worried that even a safety net set up for mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won’t head off further troubles in the financial markets.

Investors’ latest unease about the banking sector comes in a week when many financial companies are to issue quarterly reports — many of which will likely include sizable write-downs of souring mortgage debt.

The Treasury and the Federal Reserve said Sunday they would aid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if needed. Wall Street has been on edge about the well-being of the government-chartered companies because they together hold or back $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt, about half the outstanding mortgages in the United States. Washington’s efforts to shore up confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at times helped those shares Monday but troubles arose in other corners of the financial sector.

Investors worried about a run on IndyMac Bancorp Inc. that led to the bank’s takeover by the government Friday. IndyMac is the largest regulated thrift to fail.

Oil again settles above $145 a barrel