NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson's firm took a stake in Citigroup <C.N>, while cutting holdings in Bank of America <BAC.N> and its interest in Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

Eight major US banks that received government bailouts have already set aside $117.6 billion this year to pay employees, almost as much as they paid in all of 2008, a Reuters analysis finds .

On closer inspection this looks more like a naked attempt at boosting a Brown run for Governor than it is about protecting fire fighters' retirement funds.

Stocks retreated Tuesday after several earnings reports beat expectations but economic numbers missed their targets.  The Dow shed more than 50 points, or 0.5 percent, but still held above 10,000. The S&P and Nasdaq each lost about 0.6 percent.

Stocks retreated Tuesday after several earnings reports beat expectations but economic numbers missed their targets.  Apple and Caterpillar surged after their earnings blew past forecasts.

Futures were poised for a modestly higher open on the strength of more earnings surprises from some of Wall Street's leading companies.

Strong trading activity will help the big banks post handsome profits in the coming quarters but their smaller counterparts will continue to languish, banking analyst Dick Bove told CNBC.

Recently released, the Global Financial Centres Index, which was created by the Z/Yen Group for the city of London, ranks 75 major financial centers in terms of their competitiveness on a global scale. Important factors to gauge a center's competitiveness include people, business environment, infrastructure, market access and general competitiveness, which includes measures such as occupancy costs, tax information and exchange agreements, for a total of 64 instrumental factors.

The global banking industry is a diverse landscape of financial services — consumer, corporate, investment — but with so many players in the marketplace, which are the best in each segment?

A late rally pushed stocks higher Tuesday following better-than-expected earnings from several Dow components. The Dow logged its seventh-straight gain, the Nasdaq, it's tenth.

As Congress spent much of the last three months looking at ways to tighten regulations on financial institutions, some of the biggest bailout recipients increased their spending on influencing legislators.

The Dow advanced Tuesday as a slew of components beat earnings expectations. But there were pockets of weakness throughout the market, including chips, hardware, banks and retail. The Nasdaq was lower.

The Dow bolted out of the gate Tuesday as a slew of components beat earnings expectations. But there were pockets of weakness throughout the market, including chips, hardware, banks and retail. The Nasdaq was lower.

Futures indicated a slightly lower open for Wall Street Tuesday ahead of a slew of earnings and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's Capitol Hill testimony.

The Treasury Department is selling its financial stakes in bailed-out banks for one-third less than they're worth, potentially shorting taxpayers up to $2.7 billion, a bipartisan congressional watchdog said Friday.