AP
Business Highlights
Thursday November 13, 7:18 pm ET

Stocks stage huge rebound; Dow jumps 553 points

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors did an abrupt turnaround on Wall Street Thursday, muscling the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 550 points after driving it down near its lows for the year on a stream of negative economic and corporate news.

After three days of selling that wiped out about $1 trillion in shareholder value, many investors, though nervous about a prolonged economic downturn, appeared convinced the market had priced in enough bad news and swarmed back in.

The Dow rose 552.59, or 6.67 percent, to 8,835.25, after falling as low as 7,965.42 and rising as high as 8,876.59.

Wal-Mart's profit rises amid dreary retail picture

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart officials sounded an upbeat tone for the holidays as the retailer posted a 10 percent increase in third-quarter profits on Thursday, saying that shoppers are responding to its early Christmas promotions.

But the world's largest retailer trimmed its profit outlook for the fiscal year as it faces a troubled global economy and the renewed strength of the dollar.

Nevertheless, Wal-Mart -- with its renewed focus on low prices -- has been one of the few bright spots in retail, as Americans have focused on necessities at discounters. The trend has intensified since the financial meltdown in September.

Democrats hunt for support for auto bailout

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democrats pushed forward Thursday with a rescue package to pump $25 billion in new emergency loans into U.S. automakers, but a top senator said the package lacked the support to pass.

Senior Democrats are drafting legislation that would carve out part of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout for loans to the three major U.S. auto companies in exchange for a government ownership stake in the companies. They hope to push the measure through during a postelection session of Congress next week.

But the idea is running into resistance from congressional Republicans and President George W. Bush, who are reluctant to back any additional money for the struggling auto industry.

OECD says developed world already in recession

LONDON (AP) -- The world's developed countries, hard hit by the financial crisis, have probably tipped into a recession that will last at least through the first half of 2009, according to new projections issued Thursday.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast that economic output would shrink 1.4 percent this quarter for the 30 market democracies that make up its membership -- and keep contracting until the middle of next year.

Oil prices follow Wall Street on wild ride

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Oil prices swung wildly Thursday following a lead from Wall Street, which sank 300 points before investors flooded back into the market.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $2.08 to settle at $58.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude earlier dipped as low as $54.67, a price last seen in January 2007, on reports that the world's biggest economies are in recession and that energy demand has declined to decade-ago levels.

Banks say they're using bailout money for loans

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some of the nation's largest banks sharing in the $700 billion government bailout of the financial industry tried to assure lawmakers Thursday they are using the money to make more loans and help financially strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Executives with JP Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. told the committee that none of the $75 billion they have received collectively from the government is being used to pay salaries or bonuses.

Some of the executives said bonuses this year will be lower because of the economic downturn.

Aetna tells employees it will pursue staff cuts

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Health insurer Aetna Inc. has warned employees that it will pursue "selective" staff cuts as it adjusts to the major economic downturn it expects for next year.

Company Chairman and CEO Ronald Williams did not say how many cuts would be made in a memo posted Wednesday on the company's intranet site. He also did not offer a timeframe, but said Aetna was looking at staff reductions as it pursues options to reduce costs.

US Steel lays off 675 workers in US, Canada

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- United States Steel Corp. has laid off about 3 percent of its production workers in North America as a global economic slowdown cuts into demand for steel used in construction, autos and appliances.

The Pittsburgh-based company said Thursday the layoffs, effective immediately, include 500 employees in the U.S. and 175 in Canada. All of the workers are union members.

Foreclosure rates up 25 percent year-over-year

MIAMI (AP) -- The number of homeowners caught in the wave of foreclosures in October grew 25 percent nationally over the same month in 2007, data released Thursday showed.

More than 279,500 U.S. homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in October, an increase of 5 percent over September, according to RealtyTrac Inc. One in every 452 housing units received a foreclosure filing, such as a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.

More than 84,000 properties were repossessed in October, RealtyTrac said.

October budget deficit hits record of $237.2B

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government began the new budget year with a record deficit of $237.2 billion, reflecting the billions of dollars the government has started to pay out to rescue the financial system.

The Treasury Department said Thursday that the deficit for the first month in the new budget year was the highest monthly imbalance on record. It was far bigger than analysts expected, over four times larger than the October 2007 deficit of $56.8 billion, and more than half the total for all of last year.

By The Associated Press

The Dow rose 552.59, or 6.67 percent, to 8,835.25.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 58.99, or 6.92 percent, to 911.29. The Nasdaq composite index rose 97.49, or 6.50 percent, to 1,596.70. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 38.43, or 8.5 percent, to 491.23.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $2.08 to settle at $58.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 4 cents to settle at $1.875 a gallon, while gasoline prices rose 5.4 cents to settle at $1.3024 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery slid 8.7 cents to settle at $6.318 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, December Brent crude fell 38 cents to settle at $51.99 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Prices hit a three-year low of $50.60 earlier in the day.