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Stock futures pointed to a lower open for Wall Street Wednesday, with investors believing that Tuesday's meeting between French and German leaders failed to make significant progress on the euro zone sovereign debt crisis.

Bank of America Corp may settle a state and federal probe of foreclosure practices in a deal that lets New York proceed with an inquiry into securitizations, Bloomberg reported citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Bank of America Corp won what could prove a legal victory as eight mortgage securities lawsuits against its Countrywide unit were combined into a single case before a federal judge who has ruled favorably for the bank in the past.

Merger news and strong demand from Europeans lifted gold and silver prices Monday, as well as shares of the companies that mine the precious metals.

Silver prices and the shares of silver mining companies rose Monday along with the price of gold and the broader U.S. stock market.

The 2010 U.S. Health Care Reform Act will likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012, in a case that pits individual liberties concerns versus the U.S. Government?s authority to limit public health care costs via universal insurance. If the court hears the case by the spring 2012, it could issue a ruling in June 2012.

Lloyd C. Blankfein, chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., lost about $52 million of his personal wealth this month.

Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan met privately this week with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo amid the campaign to calm investors and employees about the bank's share price fall, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Dow Jones industrial average rebounded on Thursday soaring 423.37 points, or 3.95 percent, to 11143.31, after a disappointing 520-point loss on Wednesday, the ninth-largest point drop ever, because of growing fears about the health of Europe's banks and the probabilities of a global economic recession. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq gained 111.63 points, or 4.69 per cent, to 2,492.68.

While the rest of the world spirals into a debt-filled economic abyss, ultra-wealthy Persian Gulf states like Qatar and Kuwait are propped up by the high prices of crude oil and natural gas.

Physical gold is the ultimate collateral because it has no credit risk, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch?s Global Commodity Research team.

The crown may be slipping fast from billionaire trader John Paulson's head.

New China Life, the third-largest life insurance company in China, has filed its listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange, setting the stage for a planned IPO of up to $4 billion in Hong Kong and Shanghai, sources with direct knowledge of the plans told Reuters on Thursday.

The crown may be slipping fast from billionaire trader John Paulson's head.

The shares of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) skidded on Wednesday, renewing evidence that when the market sneezes financial stocks get pneumonia.

Fear returned to Wall Street on Wednesday, sending the S&P 500 to another 4 percent decline, triggered by worries that Europe's debt crisis could engulf French banks and spill onto the U.S. financial sector.

Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on Wednesday he often regrets the bank's 2008 purchase of mortgage lender Countrywide, but the loan losses from that deal will not force the bank to issue new shares.

Gold is set to widen its premium over platinum after hitting parity for the first time in 2-1/2 years this week, with no end yet in sight to the potent cocktail of fear factors that are benefiting safe havens at the expense of cyclical assets.

Bank of America Corp will not turn to new share offerings to boost capital, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on Wednesday, in an effort to placate investors angry over a recent 20 percent drop in the company's shares.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch?s Global Commodity Research team announced that they?ve rebalanced their actively managed commodity indices in favor of non-cyclical commodities such as gold.

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.

U.S. stocks rebounded sharply on Tuesday after a major sell-off, but markets remained vulnerable to selling if the Federal Reserve fails to ease fears of a double-dip recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Bank of America both bounced back from disastrous Mondays to steady gains during Tuesday trading.

All eyes are on Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) ahead of Tuesday's opening bell after the banking giant suffered a 20 percent loss on Monday's trading.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Tuesday are: MetroPCS Communications, Bank of America, NYSE Euronext, AK Steel Holding, Regions Financial, Regions Financial, MEMC Electronic Materials, Halliburton, Duke Energy, Bristol Myers Squibb and Plum Creek Timber.

U.S. markets were poised to open higher Tuesday as futures rose based on anticipated action from the Fed.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday, indicating a partial rebound from the previous session's nosedive, as investors looked to a Federal Reserve statement for clues on how it may combat the growing perception the nation was headed for recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was rocked by investor fear on Monday, dropping 634 points during trading.

Investors fled stocks on Monday in the first session since Standard & Poor's cut the AAA credit rating of the United States, adding to worry about the economic outlook and Washington's ability to meet the challenges.