DAVID GREENE, HOST: NPR's business news starts with some big bank profits.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Citigroup's profits soared in the last quarter. The nation's third largest bank said, in its latest quarterly earnings report, that profits rose 42 percent over last year. That's due, in part, to cost-cutting and the banks expansion overseas. Several other big banks report their latest earnings this week, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, and we will also hear from big technology companies like Intel and Microsoft.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: It will be especially interesting to see where Microsoft's earnings ended up last quarter. The company's first foray into computers - a tablet called the Surface - hasn't gotten much traction since it was first introduced last fall.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: Yesterday, Microsoft cut the price on their tablet by as much as 30 percent. The entry model of the Surface had been priced at $500. It's now going for $350.
Earnings season will pick up pace this week with a lot of major financial companies releasing their reports. Big names like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley will spell out how they fared in the second quarter.