Ub News

U.S. stock index futures lower Monday ahead of a speech from the Fed’s chairman.

S&P 500 futures fell 4.3 points to 1,103.80 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 7.25 points to 1,787.75. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38 points.

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday after news that just 11,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were lost in November–the smallest rate of job destruction in nearly two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22 points, the Nasdaq Composite added 21 points and the S&P 500 climbed 6 points.

Bank of America (BAC) raised $19.3 billion by selling new securities at $15.00 per share in the largest sale of preferred shares of stock by a public U.S. company during the last decade. The bank is planning on using the funds to repay its $45 billion debt to the U.S. government. In the sale, the bank sold 1.286 billion common equivalent securities. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC, $16.28, +$0.52, 3.30%) fell 0.55 percent to $16.19 on Monday morning pre-market trading session, while on Friday, shares of Bank of America climbed 3.30 percent and closed on $16.28, BofA jumped 8.17 percent in the past one month trading.

Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund will invest the proceeds of a $4.1 billion sale of a stake in Citigroup (C) abroad and not in the local market, the country’s finance minister said in remarks published on Monday. On Sunday, the fund said it had sold its stake in Citigroup making $1.1 billion in profit. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C, $4.06, +$0.01, 0.25%) jumped 0.99 percent to $4.10 on Monday morning pre-market trading session, even on Friday, Citigroup shares were up 0.25 percent and closed on $4.06.

JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM), the second largest U.S. bank in terms of assets, could lose as much as $3 billion in revenue if most derivative trades are moved to exchanges, according to a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co analyst. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM, $41.74, +$0.34, 0.82%) fell 0.24 percent to $41.64 on Monday morning pre-market trading session, while on Friday, shares of JPMorgan Chase climbed 0.82 percent and closed on $41.74.

GE plans to buy at least $59 million worth of ads each year for five years once the deal giving Comcast 51% of the new NBC Uni joint venture closes. In addition, according to the AP, GE will buy $50 million in ads for the 2012 Olympics, bringing the total five-year-commitment to at least $345 million. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE, $16.20, +$0.20, 1.25%) dropped 0.31 percent to $16.15 on Monday morning pre-market trading session, while on Friday, GE shares jumped 1.25 percent and closed on $16.20.

The U.K. Treasury hit back at claims that it underestimated the troubles at the Royal Bank of Scotland during the height of the financial crisis in October 2008, saying it had been preparing plans to intervene weeks earlier. Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE:RBS, $11.49, +$0.06, 0.52%) fell 4.09 percent to $11.02 on Monday morning pre-market trading session, while on Friday, shares of RBS rose 0.52 percent and closed on $11.49.