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On Friday December 31, 2010, 6:15 pm EST

Stocks mixed on last day of strong year for market

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks ended a gut-wrenching 2010 quietly Friday. The major indexes were little changed and trading volume was at one of its lowest levels of the year as many traders took the day off.

Despite investors' concerns about the U.S. economy, the possibility of European countries defaulting on debt, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index and the Dow Jones industrial average both rose about 14 percent for the year, including dividends. The Nasdaq composite index, meanwhile, rose about 18 percent for the year after dividends.

The Dow finished the year at its highest level since August 2008, before the height of the financial crisis. The S&P had its best December gain since 1991.

The numbers hide the fact that it was a rocky year. Stocks plunged in the spring after Greece required an emergency bailout to deal with its debt crisis. That raised concerns about debt issues in other European countries, including Ireland, which needed a bailout later in the year.

The May 6 "flash crash," which sent the Dow down to a loss of nearly 1,000 points in less than a half-hour, also rattled investors. The Dow fell 14 percent from a high of 11,205.03 on April 26 to its low of 9,686.48 on July 2.

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf post small December sales

DETROIT (AP) -- This was the year General Motors Co. and Nissan made good on their promise to bring mass-produced electric cars to the market. But don't count on seeing one in traffic soon. Sales so far have been microscopic and they're likely to stay that way for some time because of limited supplies.

GM sold between 250 and 350 Chevy Volts this month and Nissan's sales totaled less than 10 Leaf sedans in the past two weeks. Production for both is slowly ramping up.

It will be well into 2012 before both the Volt and Leaf are available nationwide. And if you're interested in buying one, you'll need to get behind the 50,000 people already on waiting lists.

It's still unclear just how large the market for electric cars will be once those early adopters are supplied. The base sticker price is $40,280 for the Volt and $32,780 for the Leaf, much higher than most similar-sized, gas-powered cars. If those prices rise, it could make them even more of a niche product than predicted. Buyers also are worried that advertised lease deals may not last, and a federal tax rebate of $7,500 could disappear if Congress decides battery-powered cars are no longer a priority.

CVS to buy Medicare business of Universal American

WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) -- CVS Caremark Corp. said Friday it will pay $1.25 billion to buy Universal American Corp.'s Medicare prescription drug services unit.

CVS said it pursued the deal because with the country's population aging, a growing percentage of Americans will get their prescription drug coverage from Medicare.

CVS said the deal will more than double the size of its Medicare drug business. Universal American serves about 1.9 million people in the Medicare Part D federally subsidized prescription benefit program for Medicare recipients, while CVS serves 1.2 million.

Woonsocket-based CVS, which operates a chain of drugstores and manages pharmacy benefits, said the deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011 and will add to its earnings per share within a year. The agreement is contingent on approval by Universal American shareholders.

Cable companies work around broadcaster in TV flap

Time Warner Cable, stuck in a dispute over fees with Sinclair Broadcast Group, says it will continue to provide network programming to viewers even if Sinclair pulls its stations off the cable system.

Time Warner's end run around Sinclair late Thursday is the latest twist in a long-running struggle between TV broadcasters and the cable and satellite operators that carry their signals into customers' homes.

As of midday Friday, Sinclair still didn't have a deal to carry its channels on Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks. Previous contracts were set to expire at midnight.

The dispute had threatened to prevent cable customers in Sinclair markets around the country from seeing Saturday's Outback Bowl between Penn State and Florida. Time Warner has about 4 million customers who get local broadcast stations owned by Sinclair.

Estonia enters new era with euro adoption

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- The Baltic state of Estonia has become the 17th European Union member to adopt the euro.

Estonia's decision to change from the Estonian to the joint European currency is the final step in a two decade-long effort to integrate its economy with Europe after it achieved independence in 1991. It is the first former Soviet republic to join the single currency club.

Gold, grains are commodities standouts in 2010

NEW YORK (AP) -- From gold to grains to oil, commodities finished 2010 at or close to their highest levels in years.

Gold closed Friday at $1,421.40 an ounce, up roughly 31 percent for the year after an almost uninterrupted climb since January. Grains and soybeans capped off a rally that started this summer and oil prices ended the year at levels many analysts considered unachievable just six months ago. The jump in commodity prices has been driven by China's seemingly insatiable demand for raw materials and speculators betting that they could profitably ride the momentum higher. Analysts expect the price increases, and volatility, will continue well in 2011.

By The Associated Press

The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 7.8 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,577.51. The S&P 500 fell 0.24 to 1,257.64. The Nasdaq composite index dipped 10.11, or 0.4 percent, to 2,652.87.

Benchmark oil for February delivery rose $1.54 on Friday to end the year at $91.38 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It reached $92.06 earlier in the day, the highest since Oct. 6, 2008. Nationwide gasoline pump prices now average $3.072 per gallon.

In other Nymex trading Friday, natural gas for February delivery rose 6.7 cents to settle at $4.405 per 1,000 cubic feet. Unlike oil, natural gas prices are less than half where they were in 2008. That's due largely to the technological advances that allowed energy companies to unlock huge deposits in underground shale formations in the U.S.

Heating oil for January delivery rose 5.83 cents to settle at $2.5437 per gallon and gasoline for January delivery added 6.14 cents to settle at $2.4532 per gallon. In London, Brent crude increased $1.66 to settle at $94.75 per gallon.

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