INVESTMENT

GMAC, the troubled automobile lender, may receive a $7.5 billion infusion from the U.S. government as early as next week, the Washington Post reported in its Saturday edition, citing unnamed sources.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 1.1 percent, Dow Jones futures down 1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.5 percent, as investors were poised to book recent hefty gains.

GMAC, the troubled automobile lender, may receive a $7.5 billion infusion from the U.S. government as early as next week, the Washington Post reported in its Saturday edition, citing unnamed sources.

After months of shunning the initial public offerings of tech companies, investors have begun warming to them again, yet another sign the IPO market might be recovering.

Satellite Asset Management LP, a $2.8 billion hedge fund founded by former employees of billionaire George Soros, is closing down because of client withdrawals, Bloomberg said on its website late Friday.

Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo sold more than $15 billion of shares and bonds, as the two companies rushed to the head of the line of banks looking to raise funds following government stress tests.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, and the Nasdaq capped its longest stretch of weekly gains in a decade as stress test results and reassuring jobs data fueled hopes the worst is over for banks and the economy.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein offered shareholders a guardedly optimistic forecast for economic recovery, saying investors are now talking about when, not if, markets will rebound.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein sounded a guardedly optimistic forecast for an economic recovery during the bank's annual meeting on Friday.

The CEO of Bank of America Corp., Kenneth Lewis said on Friday the bank is able to raise the required capital to meet the requirements of the stress tests and that he plans to stay with the bank until the needs are met.

Three big U.S. banks raced to sell stock after the U.S. government said top financial firms have a $75 billion hole in their capital, while first-quarter results from two European banks showed bad debts are soaring.

Stock index futures were poised for a higher open on Friday after the government's stress tests results on big banks lifted optimism on financial stocks and data showed employers cut a smaller-than-expected amount of jobs in April.

A recent surge in Asian shares lost steam ahead of U.S. monthly jobs data later on Friday that may signal whether the global economy has indeed hit bottom, after stress tests on U.S. banks offered no real surprises.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley on Friday said it priced an offering of 146 million common shares at $24 each, raising a more-than-expected $3.5 billion in new equity but at a discount of nearly 12 percent to its Thursday closing price.

U.S. shares are set to rise on Friday, after stress tests for U.S. banks sparked optimism about the sector's future, and ahead of April's non-farm payroll data.

First-quarter results from two more European banks showed bad debts soaring in the face of tough economies, as U.S. rivals prepared to raise $75 billion to provide a cushion for the deepest recession in decades.

American Express Co. has formally asked regulators to allow it to pay back preferred shares it issued to the government after a federal stress test showed the firm does not need additional capital.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc , Morgan Stanley , JPMorgan Chase & Co and several other big U.S. banks said they were in a position to quickly repay Treasury capital injections after regulators released bank stress test results.

New York Federal Reserve Chairman Stephen Friedman resigned on Thursday in the wake of conflict of interest accusations, defending his purchases of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc shares last year.

Bank of America Corp , ordered by the government to find $33.9 billion of capital, said on Thursday it planned to sell assets and issue more common stock to cover the shortfall.

Stephen Friedman, chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's board of directors, resigned on Thursday amid questions about his purchases of stock in his former firm, Goldman Sachs.