UNITED STATES

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Credit ratings agency S&P threw a monkey wrench in the works by downgrading its long-term credit rating for the U.S. from AAA to AA+, just days after President Obama signed a debt-limit compromise.

Standard & Poor's downgrading in the U.S. continued Monday, as the ratings agency lowered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee roughly half of all mortgages in America.

It looks like the U.S. Government isn't the only one taking a ratings hit. Standard & Poor's cut Freddie Mac's and Fannie Mae's long-term ratings one notch on Monday.

"I also want it to be a moment for thousands, and I dare say millions of people my age, who are going to look and say, '60!'" Diana Nyad, U.S. long-distance swimmer, told CNBC Sunday morning. Nyad's personal test began at 7:45 p.m. ET when she plunged into the ocean and began her 103-mile swim between Cuba and Florida.

Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term debt rating for the U.S. to AA+, while Moody?s and Fitch maintained their ratings.

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.

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.

Diana Nyad, 61, is swimming to promote closer ties between the two countries.

A first-ever debt downgrade of U.S. government bonds plus worries over contagion in Europe drive investors to the safety of gold.

The U.S. budget deficit was $1 trillion before he took the oath of office, he inherited a nation in deep recession, with a banking crisis, two wars, and now there's a credit downgrade stemming from decades of debt incurred before he was on the scene, but make no mistake about it, President Barack Obama has to create a lot of jobs for his presidency to succeed.

Oil dropped more than 3 percent on Monday, as worry about an economic slowdown spread after Standard & Poor's cut the United States' top-tier credit rating late on Friday.

Since the leading search engine Google's own social networking site Google+ was launched in June, it has grown a lot and, according to some reports, it will surpass Twitter and LinkedIn as the No. 2 social media network within one year.

Stocks tumbled on Monday, tracking a sharp drop in global equity markets after rating agency Standard & Poor's cut the top-tier AAA credit rating of the United States, rattling already-jittery investors.

Oil fell more than $4 a barrel on Monday as worries over economic growth spread after Standard & Poor's cut the United States' top-tier credit rating and European central banks struggled to contain a deepening debt crisis.

On Friday, S&P reduced the U.S. credit rating by one notch from the highest rating of AAA to AA+, with a negative outlook.

The 'Move More' report, launched by the Macmillan Cancer Support, said breast cancer patients' danger of the disease recurring could be decreased by 40 percent if they took the recommended daily levels of physical exercise.

Wall Street was set to track 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.

After considering a resignation once a debt deal was reached, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner confirmed on Sunday that he will remain at his post at President Barack Obama's request, making him Obama's longest-serving economic adviser after the first-ever U.S. credit downgrade.

In opening minutes of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1.2 percent, S&P 500 has slid 2.2 percent and Nasdaq has fallen 3.1 percent.

U.S. markets shed as much as two percent at the open Monday, on news of the S&P's U.S. debt rating downgrade and subsequent plummets in global markets overnight.