Banks busted

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday said it had downgraded from A to A- the ratings of major US banks, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Mask denial

A federal judge rejected a California couple’s request to recover a sculpture of three African masks that they gave the now-imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff in 2006, court papers show.

Foreclosures

New York AG Eric Schneiderman has launched an investigation into possibly unlawful foreclosures on the mortgages of active-duty members of the US military, the Financial Times reported.

Cyber sales

Early estimates showed Cyber Monday sales up 18 percent from a year earlier on what is expected to be the year’s biggest day of Internet shopping.

So sorry

Hedge-fund manager John Paulson apologized to his investors, saying performance at his funds this year is “the worst in the firm’s 17-year history.”