IBT Staff Reporter

Citigroup Inc is in talks to give the U.S. government a larger stake, a person familiar with the matter said, which could provide the government with a far greater say in the affairs of the ailing banking giant.

Oil rose above $40 a barrel on Monday, recovering from earlier losses, after sentiment was lifted by a report the U.S. government was in talks on increasing its stake in Citigroup.

The publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News said on Sunday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, marking the latest milestone in a crumbling of the U.S. newspaper business. In a statement, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC blamed its filing on a rare trifecta of a dramatic decline in revenue, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and a debt structure out of line ...

Stock index futures rose on Monday as investors took reports that the U.S. government could take a bigger stake in Citigroup as signaling it is ready to avert further paralysis of the financial system. A report in the Wall Street Journal said the government may end up holding as much as 40 percent of Citigroup's common stock. Last week shares of Citigroup and Bank of America

Judging small, rich island nations purely on their wealth and emissions is unfair in climate change negotiations, Singapore's climate envoy said on Saturday, as pressure builds on more countries to curb carbon pollution.

Investors queuing to pour cash into discounted corporate debt are in for a risky ride as hedge funds continue to dump assets on the market and default rates have yet to peak.

Debt-laden miner Rio Tinto may try to persuade irate shareholders to back a $19.5 billion tie-up with Chinalco by offering them bonds on the same terms as the Chinese company, according to a newspaper article on Monday. Rio declined to comment on the article by commentator Michael West on the Sydney Morning Herald's Web site (www.smh.com.au), which gave no source for...

Shares in Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, fell to a new all-time low on Monday after the lender's top executives met with a barrage of criticism for the way they handled a U.S. probe into tax fraud.

Citigroup Inc is in talks that could see the U.S. government take a bigger stake, a source said, sparking a recovery in the battered share price of what was once the country's most valuable bank.

Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Co said on Monday it has not had talks with Chrysler LLC about buying assets or technology from the U.S. company, denying a domestic media report. The Chinese Business News, citing an unnamed executive at Beijing Auto, reported on Monday that it had initial talks with Chrysler on buying assets and technology as it seeks to expand globally via acquisit...

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, as stocks bounced back from last week's steep losses on easing worries that Washington would have to nationalize embattled banks.

Oil rose above $40 a barrel on Monday, recovering from earlier losses after sentiment was lifted by a report that the U.S. government could end up owning as much as 40 percent of Citigroup.

The U.S. economy is set to contract sharply in the first quarter, with the current cyclical downturn on track to rival the 1973-75 slump as soaring unemployment depresses demand, a survey showed.

slightly less than the 3.1 percent during the early '70s, the NABE said. The survey forecast the unemployment rate peaking at 9.0 percent in the fourth quarter, before edging lower from the second quarter of 2010. The U.S. jobless rate is currently at 7.6 percent, a 16-year high. Job losses are expected to persist through 2009, though steadily diminishing over the course of the year. Aver...

Outside advisers to the Treasury are lining up contingency financing options for General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC as part of a review of restructuring options for the auto makers, a Treasury official said on Monday. The official commented to Reuters after the Wall Street Journal reported that outside advisers to the Treasury were talking with lenders about financing of at least $40 billion fo...

U.S. oil rose above $40 a barrel on Monday, recovering from earlier losses, after a report that said the U.S. government could end up owning as much as 40 percent of Citigroup sparked relief among investors and lifted sentiment. But persistent worries about the health of the global economy and its impact on world energy demand continued to rank high on investors' concerns, keeping oil prices ran...

to also convert their preferred shares into common stock, the Journal reported. Until most of the news is known, there will be a lot of volatility and probably a downward trend in the equity market because we don't know how much pain for investors government measures will induce, said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist with SJS Markets in Hong Kong. By which I mean, will curr...

something that is anathema to many U.S. politicians, executives and voters. This gives you the sense that authorities' worries have intensified that problems relating to the U.S. economy may potentially spill over to the rest of the world, said Sailesh Jha, senior regional economist at Barclays Capital, in Singapore. At a summit in Berlin on Sunday, European Union leaders backed a doubling...

The 10 million extra government-provided condoms are poised, final touches being put on huge floats depicting Queen Cleopatra and Can-can dancers, and the Barack Obama masks are flying off the shelves.

to also convert their preferred shares into common stock, the Journal reported. Until most of the news is known, there will be a lot of volatility and probably a downward trend in the equity market because we don't know how much pain for investors government measures will induce, said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist with SJS Markets in Hong Kong. By which I mean, will curr...

to also convert their preferred shares into common stock, the Journal reported. In a separate report, the Financial Times said Citigroup is pressing the U.S. government to agree on a new capital injection that would increase the authorities' stake in the bank to about 40 percent, but stop short of an outright nationalization. The FT said Citi insiders expect a decision on the company's future...

Europe said on Sunday it was time to get tough with tax havens and strictly oversee all financial markets as part of sweeping reforms to avoid future meltdowns. European Union leaders met in Berlin to forge a common approach to the global economic downturn that they can take to a meeting in April of the G20, a group of rich and big emerging economies charged with reforming the rules of world fina...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this week will offer assurance that help is on the way for the troubled U.S. economy and may offer clues on additional steps that could be taken to halt an ever-steepening dive.

and the banks understand this. Deripaska denied reports his debts total about $30 billion, saying the figure had nothing in common with reality. He declined to give an exact figure for his total debt though he said the debt of his holding company, Basic Element, was less than $1.5 billion. RUSAL owes another $2.8 billion to Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, part of a cash and equity...

was blamed by some politicians for exacerbating the banking crisis and economic meltdown. In the United States, regulators will soon launch a series of stress tests to determine which of the U.S. banks should get bigger capital cushions in case of a deeper recession, a person familiar with the plans of President Barack Obama's administration said. The largest U.S. banks are well capitali...

and the banks understand this. Deripaska denied reports his debts total about $30 billion, saying the figure had nothing in common with reality. But he declined to give an exact figure for his total debt. Deripaska said talks were taking place with investors who would like a stake in RUSAL. We have investors which have long sought to become shareholders in RUSAL. We are holding negotia...

Pressure mounted on Sunday on the chairman of UBS to step down after the Swiss bank was engulfed in a storm of criticism over its handling of a U.S. probe into tax fraud.

Pressure mounted on Sunday on the chairman of UBS to step down after the Swiss bank was engulfed in a storm of criticism over its handling of a U.S. probe into tax fraud. The Sonntag newspaper said it had surveyed the 246 members of the upper and lower houses of parliament and 23 said they wanted Peter Kurer to go, while 16 of them also thought Chief Executive Marcel Rohner should step down. I...

European leaders meeting in Berlin on Sunday backed oversight of the world's financial markets and products, including hedge funds, and urged that sanctions be drawn up to punish tax havens. A copy of the chair's summary from a summit hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel and seen by Reuters describes the situation in financial markets as fraught and says structural reforms and a focus on ...