JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) --
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday offered his most optimistic
outlook since the financial crisis struck, saying the economy is on the verge
of growing again.
Speaking at an annual Fed
conference, Bernanke acknowledged no missteps by the central bank in managing
the worst crisis since the Great Depression. But he conceded that consumers and
businesses are still having trouble getting loans, even though the financial
system is gradually stabilizing.
Economic activity in both
the U.S. and around the world seems to be leveling out, and the economy is
likely to start growing again soon, Bernanke said in a speech at an annual Fed
conference in Jackson.
July home sales surge more
than 7 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. housing
market is rebounding faster than expected. The question is, can it last? Home
resales in July posted the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years as
first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires Nov.
30. Sales jumped 7.2 percent and beat expectations, the National Association of
Realtors said Friday.
Sales hit a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million in July, from a pace of 4.89 million in
June. It was the fourth-straight monthly increase and the strongest month since
August 2007. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 5 million,
according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Stocks rise as Bernanke says
economy near recovery
NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said what investors wanted to hear, that the
economy is indeed on the verge of recovery, and they responded with a rally
that sent the major indexes to new highs for the year.
The Dow Jones industrials
shot up 155 points Friday, closing above 9,500 for the first time since Nov. 4,
and all the big indexes finished with gains of more than 1.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Treasury prices tumbled, pushing yields sharply higher, as investors
no longer felt they needed the safety of government debt.
The stock market's gains
were broad, reaching across all industries, but the biggest jumps came from
energy, industrial and material stocks as oil and commodities prices soared.
Bank stocks also rose sharply.
Oil prices hit 10-month high
as optimism grows
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices
jumped Friday to a new high for the year after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke said that the U.S. economy is nearing a recovery and other economic
data backed him up.
Benchmark crude for October
delivery rose 98 cents to settle at $73.89. After Bernanke spoke at an annual
Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., prices briefly neared $75.
The price for natural gas
plummeted to a new seven-year low, which suggests some skepticism about an
economic rebound. Natural gas is used by major industries, including utilities,
for power.
Energy experts had a hard
time explaining how natural gas can plunge while prices for other energy
futures, including heating oil and gasoline, continue to rise.
17 states see unemployment
rates drop in July
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A rebound
in the auto industry and federal stimulus money helped lower unemployment rates
in many of the 17 states that reported drops in July -- a hopeful sign after
only five states had seen their jobless rates dip in June.
Still, the Labor Department
report Friday showed that joblessness remains widespread as 26 states reported
higher unemployment rates. Many economists expect jobs to remain scarce
nationwide and the unemployment rate to top 10 percent by the end of the year,
up from 9.4 percent in July.
Fifteen states and the
District of Columbia are suffering from unemployment rates above 10 percent.
Michigan's rate was 15 percent in July, down from 15.2 percent in June -- the
first time any state's jobless rate had topped 15 percent since 1984.
Regulators shut ebank, small
bank in Georgia
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Regulators have shut down ebank, a small bank in Georgia, marking the 78th
failure this year of a federally insured bank.
In contrast to the big bank
failures early in the financial crisis, many of the recently shuttered banks
were undone not by exotic mortgage products but by garden-variety loans.
At the same time, a knot of
big, complex banks collapsing in recent months is sapping billions from the
federal deposit insurance fund that insures regular accounts up to $250,000,
spurring regulators to court potential buyers from the world of private
investment.
Ex-UBS banker gets more than
3 years in prison
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)
-- A former banker described by prosecutors as the man most responsible for
sparking a broad U.S. investigation into rich Americans' use of secret Swiss
bank accounts to evade taxes was sentenced Friday to more than three years in
federal prison.
Prosecutors gave Bradley
Birkenfeld, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, credit for voluntarily disclosing
illegal tactics by Swiss banking giant UBS AG and others. But they said
Birkenfeld initially refused to confess his own misconduct and hoped to collect
a cash reward under U.S. whistleblower laws.
Prosecutors had recommended
a 2 1/2-year sentence, half off the potential maximum of 5 years for
Birkenfeld's guilty plea to a single fraud conspiracy charge.
Cash for Clunkers to end on
Monday
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Car
shoppers have until Monday night to take advantage of lucrative Cash for
Clunkers rebates from the government, and the Obama administration is hoping
for a smooth ending to a program that has spurred auto sales but created
headaches for many auto dealers.
The popular program will end
at 8 p.m. EDT Monday after burning through much of its $3 billion in funding in
just a month. All new deals will have to be completed and dealers must file
their paperwork by the deadline in order to get repaid for the big incentives.
President Barack Obama and
administration officials declared the program a success Thursday, saying it has
revitalized the ailing auto industry and finally brought reluctant car buyers
back to dealership lots.
Tribune to sell Cubs,
Wrigley, to Ricketts family
CHICAGO (AP) -- Media
conglomerate Tribune Co. announced a definitive agreement Friday to sell all
but a 5 percent stake in the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field to the billionaire
Ricketts family, capping a tortuous selection process that began nearly 2 1/2
years ago.
Tribune valued the
transaction at about $845 million.
Tribune had announced on
Opening Day in 2007 that the marquee baseball franchise and historic ballpark
would be sold at the end of that season. But the process was slowed by CEO Sam
Zell's efforts to maximize sale profits, including a failed attempt to sell
Wrigley separately, along with the collapse of credit markets and Tribune's
2008 bankruptcy filing.
Apple denies `rejecting'
Google Voice for iPhone
SEATTLE (AP) -- Apple Inc.
told federal regulators Friday that it blocked the Google Voice program from
running on the iPhone because it alters important functions on the device --
yet Apple denied that it has rejected Google's application outright.
The FCC is looking into
Apple's block on the Google Voice app as part of a bigger examination of the
consumer implications of practices in the wireless industry. It sent questions
to Apple, Google and AT&T Inc., the only wireless carrier to offer the
iPhone in the U.S.
There is widespread
speculation that Apple and AT&T saw a Google Voice app for the iPhone as a
potential competitor that would keep users from eating up minutes on their cell
phone plan.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 155.91, or 1.7
percent, to 9,505.96.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index rose 18.76, or 1.9 percent, to 1,026.13, its highest close since Oct.
6. And the Nasdaq composite index rose 31.68, or 1.6 percent, to 2,020.90,
reaching its highest close since Oct. 1.
Benchmark crude for October
delivery rose 98 cents to settle at $73.89.
In other Nymex trading,
gasoline for September delivery added 1.34 cents to settle at $1.9956 a gallon
and heating oil for September delivery added 1.97 cents to settle at $1.9049 a
gallon. Natural gas for September delivery tumbled another 14.1 cents to settle
at $2.804 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent prices rose
86 cents to settle at $74.19 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.