NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock
market is keeping its momentum going, giving shares their best week in more
than two months.
Moderate gains on Friday led
by health care and utility companies pushed stocks to a 4 percent gain for the
week, their best performance since July. The Dow Jones industrial average
gained 78 points to 9,864.94, reaching its highest level in a year.
Bond prices tumbled,
extending the previous day's losses, as the Treasury market struggled to absorb
$71 billion of new supply auctioned off this week in the government's ongoing
efforts to fund its stimulus programs.
The market's performance was
a fitting way to commemorate the second anniversary of the record highs set by
the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which closed at 14,164.53 and
1,565.15 respectively. It was after reaching those milestones that the market
began what turned into a cataclysmic slide that ended March 9.
Citigroup dumps Phibro,
avoids showdown with US
NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup
Inc. is removing one of the irritants in its relationship with the government,
its Phibro commodities trading division that is paying one trader an estimated
$100 million this year.
The deal announced Friday
carries a tradeoff for Citigroup: While the $250 million sale to Occidental
Petroleum Corp. means a bit less government scrutiny, it also means the bank is
losing hundreds of millions of dollars in annual income that could help repay
$49 billion in bailout money.
Phibro, which makes most of
its money through oil and natural gas trades, earned an average $371 million
annually during the past five years. Citigroup sold it for about $250 million,
which means Occidental could recoup its investment in less than a year.
Aug. trade deficit narrows
unexpectedly to $30.7B
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S.
trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in August as exports posted a small gain,
while imports fell on a big drop in demand for foreign oil.
The fourth straight rise in
exports was an encouraging sign that the global economy has started to recover
from a severe recession that began in the United States and quickly spread to
other parts of the world. But many economists expect the deficit to rise in
coming months on the back of a rebounding U.S. economy, which will start
importing more foreign products.
The Commerce Department said
Friday that the trade deficit declined 3.5 percent to $30.7 billion, surprising
economists who had expected higher oil prices to push the imbalance to $33
billion. Oil prices did shoot up, but the volume of shipments dropped sharply in
August.
Iconic Hummer brand sold to
Chinese manufacturer
DETROIT (AP) -- Hummer, the
off-road vehicle that once epitomized America's love for hulking trucks, is now
in the hands of a Chinese heavy equipment maker.
General Motors Co. and
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp. finally signed the
much-anticipated deal for GM to sell the brand on Friday.
Tengzhong will get an 80
percent stake in the company, while Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji, who
indirectly owns a big stake in Tengzhong through an investment company, will
get 20 percent. The investors will also get Hummer's nationwide dealer network.
Job competition toughest
since recession began
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
number of job seekers competing for each opening has reached the highest point
since the recession began, according to government data released Friday.
The employment crisis is
expected to worsen as companies stay reluctant to hire. Many economists expect
a jobless recovery, putting pressure on President Barack Obama and congressional
Democrats to stimulate job creation.
There are about 6.3
unemployed workers competing, on average, for each job opening, a Labor
Department report shows. That's the most since the department began tracking
job openings nine years ago, and up from only 1.7 workers when the recession
began in December 2007.
The highest point after the
2001 recession was 2.8 workers per opening in July 2003, as the economy
suffered through a jobless recovery.
Oil prices nearly flat as
dollar strengthens
UNDATED (AP) -- Oil prices
were essentially flat to end the week after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke said this week that interest rates will have to be raised when the
economy recovers in order to avoid inflation.
It has been the weak dollar
that has attracted billions in investments in energy markets this year because
oil is priced in the U.S. dollar, essentially making crude cheaper globally.
The dollar bounced back on
Friday following Bernanke's comments, and crude prices rose only 8 cents after
they had rallied strongly Thursday wheat he U.S. currency hit a 14-month low
against the euro.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery settled at $71.77 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
FCC launches probe of Google
Voice service
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
regulators will look into complaints by AT&T Inc. that Google Inc.'s free
messaging and calling service, Google Voice, blocks calls to rural communities
where local phone companies charge high connection fees.
The Federal Communications
Commission on Friday sent a letter to Google requesting information about its
Voice service, which lets people sign up for one number that can route incoming
calls to cell, office or home phones. The service also lets users place calls, including
international calls, at low rates.
As part of a broader quarrel
with Google, AT&T has complained that Google Voice blocks calls to phone
numbers in some rural communities to reduce the access charges it must pay.
So-called "common carrier" regulations prevent AT&T and other big
phone companies from blocking those same calls.
Ag report forecasts record
corn, soybean crops
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) --
Record harvests are being forecast for corn and soybean farmers despite earlier
concerns over a cool growing season.
In a report released Friday,
the National Agricultural Statistics Service forecasts record yields for corn
and record production for soybeans.
Corn production is estimated
at 13 billion bushels, up 8 percent from 2008. If true, it will be the second
highest production since 2007, when 13.04 billion bushels were harvest.
Yields are forecast to
average a record 164.2 bushels per acre, up more than 10 bushels from 2008.
Kimberly-Clark to buy I-Flow
in $276M deal
DALLAS (AP) --
Kimberly-Clark Corp. said Friday that it will add higher-margin medical devices
to its health care unit by purchasing health care company I-Flow Corp. in a
cash deal valued at approximately $276 million excluding acquired cash and cash
equivalents.
Kimberly-Clark, maker of Huggies
diapers and Kleenex tissues, will start a tender offer to buy all of Lake
Forest, Calif.-based I-Flow's outstanding stock at $12.65 per share, or about
$324 million. The per share price represents an 8 percent premium to I-Flow's
Thursday closing price of $11.76.
The planned acquisition
follows a Monday announcement by Kimberly-Clark in which the Dallas-based
company said it bought Baylis Medical Co.'s pain management business for an
undisclosed sum.
USA Today to post 17 percent
drop in circulation
NEW YORK (AP) -- USA Today
expects to report the largest decline in circulation in its 27-year history,
threatening its No. 1 position among U.S. dailies as the growth of online news
and the slump in travel pummel the newspaper.
While most large dailies are
struggling to hold on to print subscribers and newsstand sales, USA Today is
being hurt by a drop in traffic at airports and hotels, the newspaper's
mainstay. It also increased the price of single copies to $1 from 75 cents last
December.
In a memo to staff Friday,
USA Today publisher David Hunke said the average circulation at the Gannett
Co.-owned newspaper was 1.88 million from April through September. That marks a
loss of 398,000 copies, or 17 percent, from the same period the year before at
the newspaper, which is printed on weekdays only.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 78.07, or 0.8
percent, to 9,864.94, its highest close since Oct. 6 last year.
The S&P 500 index rose
6.01, or 0.6 percent, to 1,071.49, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 15.35,
or 0.7 percent, to 2,139.28.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery rose 8 cents to settle at $71.77 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading,
heating oil rose by less than a penny to $1.8528 and gasoline fell by 1.117 to
settle at $1.768 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery lost 19.3 cents to
settle at $4.77 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose
23 cents to settle at $70 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.