Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) expects to have completed its corporate cost review by mid-April, company officials said Monday, as published reports suggested the nation's largest bank was considering cutting about 15,000 jobs. It is said that the cuts could result in a charge of more than $1 billion against earnings. Citigroup shares fell $0.18 to close at $51.54 on the NYSE.

Oil prices settled Monday at their highest level so far this year on tensions between Iran and the West following Tehran's detention of British naval personnel. Gasoline futures prices climbed above $2 a gallon to their highest level since last September as a new driving season nears. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for May delivery rose $0.63 to settle at $62.91 a barrel, the highest settlement for the front-month contract since Dec. 20. Earlier, the contract rose as high as $63.30 a barrel.

Northwest Airlines (OTC:NWACQ) can begin seeking creditor approval of a plan to exit bankruptcy that values the company at an estimated $7 billion, a judge ruled Monday. The decision puts the airline in the last stages of bankruptcy before it can emerge from court protection. Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Corp. wants to cancel all existing shares in the company and issue 272 million new ones, with a stock offering to sell 27.78 million shares at $27 a piece.

Robust prescription drug sales helped drugstore chain Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG) earnings increase nearly 25% in the Q2. The nation's biggest drugstore chain by revenue earned $651.9 million, or $0.65 per share, for the three months ended Feb. 28. That's up from $523.5 million, or $0.51 per share, during the same period last year.

Upscale jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) on Monday said Q4 net income was nearly flat, weighed by an impairment charge, flat sales in Japan and higher cost of metals. Earnings for the quarter ended Jan. 31 were nearly unchanged at $140.5 million, or $1.02 per share, from $140.3 million, or $0.97 per share, during the same period last year. Revenue grew 15% to $986.4 million from $858.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts expected net income of $1.05 per share on revenue of $979.1 million.

Dell (NDAQ:DELL) shares rose 3.5%, or $0.79, to $23.62 on the Nasdaq after Goldman Sachs upgraded the computer maker's stock to "buy" from "neutral" amid calls on Wall Street for the company to cut jobs and improve profit margins.

Internet auctioneer eBay Inc. (NDAQ:EBAY) stock rose 4.4%, or $1.39, to $33.22 on the Nasdaq.

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) shares were the biggest drag on the Dow on Monday, down 0.76%, or $0.59, at $77.38 on the NYSE.

Microsoft Corp. (NDAQ:MSFT) said Monday it sold 20 million consumer copies of the new Windows Vista operating system worldwide in February, but analysts said the data shed little light on the program's popularity during its first month on the market. The analyst said 51 million PCs were sold to consumers worldwide in 2002; this year, the research group predicts 96 million consumers will buy a computer. Shares of Microsoft rose $0.20 to close at $28.22 on the Nasdaq.
 
Officials of Safeway Inc. are reportedly interested in buying additional stores. Safeway officials, along with officials from other nationwide supermarket giants like The Kroger Co. of Cincinnati and SuperValu Inc. of Edina, Minn., are said to have expressed an interest in buying stores operated by Roundy's Supermarket Inc., a Milwaukee-based company that owns and operates 155 retail grocery stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois under the Pick 'n Save, Copps Food Center, and Rainbow Foods banners. It had sales of nearly $4 billion during fiscal 2006 and employs 22,000 workers. Pleasanton-based Safeway had fiscal 2006 sales of $38.4 billion and currently operates 1,761 supermarkets throughout the United States and Canada. That includes the Dominick's chain in the Chicago area, just to the south of Milwaukee, which Safeway purchased in 1998, and then tried unsuccessfully to sell off several years later when Dominick's was struggling in the nation's third-largest metropolitan area.

Raytheon Co. (NYSE:RTN), the world's fifth-largest defense company, closed on the sale of its aircraft operations Monday to Hawker Beechcraft Inc., with the new owners planning to bolster its international sales and service, the company said. The $3.3 billion dollar sale of Wichita-based Raytheon Aircraft to Hawker Beechcraft was first announced in December.

Redhook Ale Brewery Inc. (NYSE:HOOK) rose $0.10 to $7.52 in extended session trading after closing at $7.42 earlier on the Nasdaq.

First Solar Inc. (NDAQ:FSLR) added $0.99, or 2%, to $58 in the late session after a Banc of America analyst began coverage of the solar cell maker with a "Buy" rating in a client note released after the closing bell.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE:VG) said Monday the market had overreacted to a federal judge's decision that would bar the Internet telephone company from using technology covered by Verizon Communications Inc.'s patents. New York Stock Exchange-listed Vonage shares shed $1.05, or 26%, Friday to close at $3. On Monday, the shares rose $0.38, or 13%. The shares were first sold to the public in May for $17 each.