Bloomberg Consumers were the Achilles’ heel of the U.S. economy in the run-up to the last recession. This time, companies may play that role. Among the warning signs: rising debt, lagging profits and mounting defaults. While the financial vulnerabilities aren’t likely to lead to another downturn soon, economists say they point to potential potholes down the road for an …

  Dubai / Reuters Share market indexes in the Middle East diverged on Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia’s index outperforming peers as some positive news lifted shares, but all markets ended with losses for the month. Riyadh’s index rebounded 1.4 percent, ending three sessions of declines, although volumes were the lowest since last October. The index was down 5.3 percent in …

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG has emerged as a focus of a probe into whether traders rigged auctions for USA government debt, the New York Post reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. No bank has been accused of wrongdoing, but investigators are narrowing their focus after requesting documents and communications from all of the 22 primary dealers in …