AP
Business Highlights
Friday October 10, 6:42 pm ET

Stocks end wild session mixed after 8-day slide

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street capped its worst week ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow Jones industrials rocket within a 1,000 point range before closing with a relatively mild loss and the Nasdaq composite index actually end with a modest advance.

Investors were still agonizing over frozen credit markets, but seven days of massive losses made many stocks tempting for traders looking for bargains.

Paulson endorses bank stock purchase plan

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the administration will move ahead with a plan to buy stock in financial institutions.

Paulson said Friday the program to purchase stock in financial institutions will be open to a broad array of institutions.

The administration received authority to make direct purchases of stock in banks in the $700 billion financial rescue bill Congress passed last week.

G7 pledges to battle financial crisis

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Finance officials from the world's top economic powers have pledged to take all action necessary to stem the worst financial crisis in more than a half-century.

The officials from the so-called Group of Seven countries issued a five-point plan aimed at unfreezing a credit crisis that has unhinged Wall Street and markets around the globe.

The group pledged to take "decisive action and use all available tools" to battle the crisis and to protect major financial institutions in their countries and to prevent their failure.

AP source: GM could announce production cuts soon

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. is likely to announce further production cuts and possible plant closures as early as next week as it deals with slumping sales and a collapse in its stock price, a person with knowledge of the company's plans said Friday. The person, who did not want to be identified because the plans are not finalized, said the cuts likely will hit engine, transmission and stamping operations to correspond with a June announcement that GM would close four truck and sport utility vehicle assembly plants.

The closures of those assembly plants likely will be accelerated, the person said.

Oil plunges to 13-month low on global slowdown

NEW YORK (AP) -- The stunning collapse in oil markets accelerated Friday, sending a barrel of crude plunging below $78 as investors grow more pessimistic about resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis.

Oil hasn't been this cheap in 13 months -- a rare silver lining for consumers amid a rapidly imploding financial landscape.

Crude prices have almost been cut in half since surging to a record near $150 barrel over the summer.

Energy experts believe prices could go even lower.

Federal regulators clear Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal antitrust regulators on Friday cleared Wells Fargo's $11.7 billion acquisition of Wachovia Corp., capping a weeklong battle for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank.

The rapid approval comes a day after Citigroup Inc. walked away from its own efforts to buy Wachovia. Late Thursday, Citigroup broke off talks with Wells Fargo and federal regulators after the suitors failed to reach an agreement over how to split up the bank.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday it would proceed with the purchase and plans to complete the deal by the end of the fourth quarter. The acquisition still needs the approval of Wachovia shareholders.

August trade deficit falls to $59.1B

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. trade deficit edged down slightly in August, reflecting a drop in foreign oil from record levels. But the politically sensitive deficit with China increased as imports from that country hit an all-time high.

The Commerce Department said Friday the trade deficit declined by 3.5 percent in August to $59.1 billion. The deficit is expected to shrink even further in coming months as a severe economic slump in the U.S. depresses demand for oil and other imported goods.

America's foreign oil bill declined to $43.7 billion in August, down a record $7.3 billion from the all-time high of $51 billion in July. The drop reflected both lower shipments and oil prices.

GE 3Q profit off 22 pct, but meets lower forecast

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- General Electric Co. spared investors any nasty surprises as it reported a 22 percent drop in third-quarter earnings on Friday, meeting its own lowered forecast and blaming the decline on its struggling finance arm.

GE, which also makes everything from jet engines to water treatment systems and owns NBC Universal, reported net income of $4.3 billion, or 43 cents per share. Sales rose 11 percent to $47.23 billion.

A year earlier, the company earned $5.56 billion, or 54 cents.

Morgan Stanley shares sink on worries about future

NEW YORK (AP) -- Morgan Stanley Inc. shares plunged more than 22 percent Friday as investors questioned the investment bank's future even with a major investment from Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Friday marked the fifth straight day that shares of the nation's second-largest investment bank have been pummeled. The latest round of selling was triggered on renewed fear that Morgan Stanley's credit ratings might be cut, a move that threatens earnings power.

The potential for a downgrade heightens pressure on Chief Executive John Mack, who spent most of Friday meeting with major investors to reassure them about the firm.

Accounting board adopts guidance to ease crisis

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) -- The standard-setting board for corporate accounting adopted new guidance on Friday for how banks value assets in the distressed market, a move that could boost their balance sheets.

The five-member Financial Accounting Standards Board decided to provide some flexibility in applying "fair value" accounting where there is no market for a security -- like the market for banks' mortgage-backed assets that has been dysfunctional for months.

While clarifying an existing rule, the board did not suspend the fair value rule as some had urged, however.

By The Associated Press

The Dow fell 128.00, or 1.49 percent, to 8,451.49. At its low point Friday, the Dow was down 696 at 7,882.51, just 60 points above its low in Wall Street's last bear market, 7,286.27, reached Oct. 9, 2002. It crossed the line between gains and losses 32 times during the session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10.70 or 1.18 percent, to 899.22, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.39, or 0.27 percent, to 1,649.51.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery ended the day $8.89 lower at $77.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest settlement price for a front-month crude contract since Sept. 10, 2007.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures lost 20.86 cents to settle at $2.21 a gallon, while gasoline futures fell 22.03 cents to settle at $1.807 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 29 cents to settle at $6.535 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, November Brent crude lost $8.57 to settle at $74.09 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.