CITIGROUP

Wall Street economists see odds of around one-in-three the United States will slip back into recession, heightening expectations the Federal Reserve will launch another round of unconventional credit easing.

Standard & Poor's is more concerned that a slower economy, sovereign debt issues and mortgage risks will depress U.S. bank industry profits and credit quality, the ratings agency said on Tuesday.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) shares fell as much as 9.5 percent to their lowest level since April 2009 on Monday morning over fears of a slowing U.S. economy and challenges to a multi-billion dollar mortgage settlement.

U.S. stock index futures tracked a sharp drop in global equity markets on Monday after rating agency Standard & Poor's cut the top-tier AAA credit rating of the United States, rattling already-jittery investors.

The U.S. dollar may weaken and Treasury yields rise when Asian markets reopen on Monday, though any selling in response to ratings agency S&P's downgrade of the United States is likely to be tempered by the escalating crisis in the euro zone.

The S&P cut in the U.S. long-term credit rating to AA-plus is an unprecedented blow. It called the outlook "negative," signaling another downgrade is possible in the next 12 to 18 months. The U.S. dollar may weaken and Treasury yields rise when Asian markets reopen on Monday.

Guidewire Software Inc, which sells software to the insurance industry, is gearing up to go public and has selected JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) to underwrite the deal, people close to the matter said.

Stocks closed out their worst week in more than two years on Friday in a volatile session that saw the major indexes whip back and forth before the S&P 500 ended down less than a point.

Citigroup Inc said in a regulatory filing on Friday that the Justice Department is examining its mortgage business.

U.S. bank stocks declined on Friday as investors sold off shares of some of the largest U.S. lenders amid new fears surrounding the European debt crisis and a U.S. economy showing little new growth.

A little over a year after spinning off from Citigroup , Primerica is considering a first share buy-back program, as one of the biggest U.S. term life insurers wants to put its excess capital to use, executives said.

Royal Bank of Scotland slid to a pretax loss of 678 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in the second quarter, bruised by writedowns on Greek government bonds and Irish customers struggling to repay loans.

The latest U.S. oil inventory data contradicts a widely held notion among oil traders that a huge glut of Canadian and U.S. shale crude oil is accumulating in the middle of the United States and causing the record gap in global oil benchmark prices.

Investors fled Wall Street in the worst stock-market selloff since the middle of the financial crisis in early 2009 in what has turned into a full-fledged correction.The Dow and the S&P tumbled more than 4 percent on Thursday and the Nasdaq lost 5 percent on fear the United States is staring at another recession and that Europe's sovereign debt crisis is swallowing two of its largest economies.

Hedge fund titan John Paulson's flagship funds performed poorly in July and sank further into the red for the year.

Healthcare IT provider Emdeon Inc said it agreed to be taken private for $3 billion by private equity firm Blackstone.

Security experts have discovered the biggest series of cyber attacks to date, involving the infiltration of the networks of 72 organizations including the United Nations, governments and companies around the world.

The analysts expect ?mild appreciation pressure on the ruble? in the next few months.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Friday are: Dynegy, Unifi, iSoftStone Holdings, Orbitz Worldwide, Terex, Crexus Investment, Miller Petroleum, Gildan Activewear, HSBC Holdings and MEMC Electronic Materials.

Lawmakers were still unable to reach an agreement on the U.S. debt ceiling on Friday, but there is no arguing that the dollar's safe-haven appeal should remain trumped by the Swiss franc and Japanese yen.

Long-term investors are losing patience with companies that fail to maximize value as the slowing recovery whittles away returns, with some calling for greater financial rewards for loyalty or takeovers that put growth targets back on course.