The shares of Citigroup dropped after the stock market opening this morning and the stock (C) lost $9bn on Wall Street plunge.

Markets around the world are plummeting on continuing fears about a global recession and forced delevering of the financial system. We wake to find the S&P futures lock limit down.

New rules from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that went into effect Thursday restrict certain types of so-called short selling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index used to gauge the performance of American stock exchanges, fell 344.65 at the close of trading Thursday. A string of dismal economic news has all but dashed investors' hopes for a late-year recovery. The Dow Jones industrials plunged nearly 350 points.

First the good news: Amazon, Qualcomm and BIDU are partying like it's 1999. Q

We will soon see how the long weekend affected investor's mood. Certainly, the stock market has on balance been acting badly for a month and the dominant mood is very gloomy.

A Merrill Lynch analyst put out some groundbreaking research on GM this morning claiming that bankruptcy was an option for the auto company. He reversed his prior buy recommendation (issued in February 2007 when the stock was at $40) and cut the stock to an "underperform" now that it is trading below $11.

While the DJIA dropped modestly yesterday, the Nasdaq Composite was strong and the A/D was 3/2 positive on issues and volume. Oil helped by dropping a $1.00 a barrel but the dollar was also soft.

Lehman and AIG are also in focuse as Lehman Brothers results are expected and AIG ousted its CEO.

According to the Wall Street Journal, more and more companies that issued PIK toggle bonds during the private equity boom are opting to pay investors more debt rather than interest. For those unfamiliar with PIK toggles, it is debt issued with the option to substitute interest payments for more debt.

SEC Charges Banc of America Investment Services With Failing to Disclose It Favored Affiliated Mutual Funds.

The Dow and Nasdaq were moderately lower at midsession after economic reports suggested the U.S. is closer to a recession. A rise in commodity prices is lifting shares of mining and energy companies.