GOLDMAN SACHS

World shares clawed back more ground on Wednesday as investors rattled by a run of heavy losses took comfort from the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for two more years.

American International Group Inc is suing Bank of America Corp to recover more than $10 billion over a "massive fraud" on mortgage debt, deepening the litigation morass facing the largest U.S. bank.

Gold vaulted to record highs above $1,700 an ounce on Monday, surging nearly 3 percent as European Central Bank's buying of Italian and Spanish bonds failed to ease debt fears after Standard & Poor's cut the top-notch AAA credit rating of the United States.

Shares of major gold mining companies notched fresh gains in midday trading Monday as the price of the precious metal topped $1,700 per ounce.

The crises at the heart of the international financial and political system go beyond the debt woes currently gripping the Western world and to the heart of the way the global economy has been run for over two decades.

Gold vaulted above $1,700 an ounce for the first time on Monday after pledges by the G7 and the European Central Bank to quell the turbulence in the financial markets did nothing to put investors at ease.

Global investors flock to precious metal as safe haven.

In the guessing game of which Asian sovereign credit will be downgraded next, after the United States this weekend, Japan is almost everyone's top pick, and not simply because its debt burden and messy politics are as bad if not worse than America's.

Japan's Nikkei stock average slid more than 2 percent on Monday as weak sentiment following Standard & Poor's downgrade of the United States' credit rating was exacerbated by futures selling after Asian markets tumbled.

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.

Tolstoy thought unhappy families were unique in their unhappiness.

16.6 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 to 24 are unemployed

President Barack Obama has asked Timothy Geithner to stay on as Treasury secretary and a decision is expected soon, officials said on Thursday.

Kraft Foods Inc Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld is breaking up the food giant, just 18 months after driving through the controversial acquisition of UK chocolate maker Cadbury.

Kraft aims to split its company into two distinct businesses. The company said the move could occur by the end of this year.

With more than 14 million people out of work, consumer spending falling by the day, the GDP growth outlook remaining grim and rising inflation denting confidence of ordinary people, a massive spending cut of more than $2 trillion would be the proverbial last straw on the camel's back.

Goldman Sachs International sold HK$3.73 billion ($478.7 million) worth of shares in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the world's largest lender by market value, in what it said was a transaction to help a client hedge its position in the bank.

On Monday HSBC announced intentions to lay off 30,000 employees by 2013, a move that Goldman Sachs indirectly caused, says one professor.

More than a dozen traders have quit Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (GS.N) North American government bonds and derivatives trading desk in New York in recent months as the bank takes fewer risks and big bonuses for ambitious traders dry up.

Chief executives from the nation's largest financial firms on Thursday pressured the White House and Congress to reach a deal on the debt ceiling and deficit reduction, saying the consequences of inaction "would be very grave."