NEW YORK --Wall Street ended a volatile week with a late-day comeback Friday after investors set aside some concerns about the banking sector and the health of the overall economy.
Stocks began Friday's trading having fallen in six of the prior seven sessions as investors fretted about whether consumers would succumb to higher energy prices, rising mortgage costs and an anemic dollar. Continuing credit turmoil has also stirred concerns about the soundness of corporate balance sheets and profits.
On Friday, the market appeared headed to another down day before the major indexes, which had flip-flopped all day, turned higher in the last half-hour.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fannie Mae's bookkeeping is drawing scrutiny from Wall Street -- again.
Three years after a stunning accounting scandal that forced it to restate earnings by $6.3 billion, the government-backed home-loan finance company now is on the defensive over a change in how it calculates potential losses from the growing mortgage crisis.
The fear among investors is that a new accounting methodology masks the number of bad loans held by Fannie, thus downplaying potential losses.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Alltel Corp., the nation's fifth-largest wireless carrier, was taken private Friday to complete a $24.7 billion buyout by two private equity groups.
The deal earlier won approval of shareholders and was cleared by the Federal Communications Commission.
There are concerns that the debt burden that Alltel will carry to finance the buyout -- $23 billion -- will limit its ability to grow, however.
The Little Rock-based company said in an earlier filing that it intends to take part in a Jan. 24 auction of the wireless spectrum, which is to provide room for companies to expand their offerings. The filing notes that there is no guarantee that Alltel will be a successful bidder.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- With oil prices surging and U.S. stock prices slumping, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s sale of an 8.1 percent stake to the Abu Dhabi government's investment arm represents the latest plunge by a wealthy Middle Eastern nation into a troubled U.S. corporation.
It also raises fresh questions about the appropriateness of Middle Eastern firms owning large chunks of U.S. businesses that specialize in advanced technologies.
Sunnyvale-based AMD, the world's No. 2 microprocessor maker, needs the $622 million investment from the Mubadala Development Company to help lift the company out of a deep financial slump.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge approved on Friday a $6.8 billion financing plan for Delphi Corp.'s exit from bankruptcy.
But the judge also admonished potential equity investors who he said had drained away hundreds of millions of dollars as the auto parts supplier disclosed new terms earlier this week for investing in the company.
Delphi, which is based in Troy, Mich., had originally sought $8.7 billion in loans, but had reduced that amount and delayed voting on its reorganization plan as it struggled to secure the financing in a tighter credit market.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Industrial production plunged in October by the largest amount in nine months, reflecting a big drop in utility output and continued troubles in autos and housing-related industries.
The Federal Reserve said output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities fell by 0.5 percent last month, a much worse outcome than had been expected.
The October decline, the biggest since a similar drop in January, was led by a sharp plunge in output of electricity and natural gas due to warmer-than-normal weather during the month.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- FedEx Corp. reduced its quarterly and yearly earnings expectations Friday and analysts suggested that forecasts could be pared for future periods if fuel prices don't stabilize.
The Memphis-based shipper blamed soaring fuel costs and a troubled U.S. freight market for the reduced estimate that led the company's shares to plunge 4.5 percent and set a 52-week low on Friday.
Alan B. Graf Jr., FedEx's chief financial officer, said in a release that the company's fuel surcharge system can't react quickly enough to cover rapid fuel price increases. He said fuel costs have risen more than 8 percent, or $85 million, since September.
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- The accidental airing of a closed OPEC session Friday provided a surprise glimpse into a sensitive debate over the weakening U.S. dollar, with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister warning that even talking publicly about the currency's decline could further hurt its value.
The high-profile blunder ahead of a rare OPEC summit showed the debate as Iran attempted to convince other member countries to express concern over dollar depreciation in the meeting's final declaration.
Oil is priced in dollars on the world market, and its depreciation has concerned oil producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and has eroded the value of their dollar reserves. Cartel officials have resisted pressure to increase oil production to ease prices.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Gas prices fell slightly for the first time in weeks, raising doubts that pump prices would rise another 10 cents to 15 cents in coming weeks to catch up with skyrocketing crude prices, as some had thought.
Oil futures, meanwhile, rose Friday on investors' belief that supplies aren't as plentiful as a government report at first suggested.
The national average price of a gallon of gas dropped 0.3 cent overnight to $3.109, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
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LONDON (AP) -- The chief executive and seven board members of Northern Rock PLC, Britain's fifth-largest mortgage lender, resigned Friday to pave the way for the sale of the troubled lender.
The announcement, filed with the London Stock Exchange, came as final bids were due in an auction of the bank, Britain's largest casualty of the global credit crisis.
Richard Branson's Virgin Group and investment firm Olivant Advisers Ltd. confirmed they had filed separate proposals for how to rescue the bank.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Koreans take great pride in Samsung, but a spreading bribery scandal has renewed old concerns about the company's perceived power and influence within the Republic of Korea, South Korea's formal name.
In the latest scandal, Kim Yong-chul, a former top Samsung lawyer, went public this month with allegations that Chairman Lee Kun-hee and other officials masterminded a campaign to raise slush funds to pay prosecutors, judges and lawmakers and influence a high-profile court case.
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By The Associated Press The Dow Jones industrial average rose 66.74, or 0.51 percent, to 13,176.79
Broader stock indicators also recovered. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.59, or 0.52 percent, to 1,458.74. The Nasdaq composite index rose 18.73, or 0.72 percent, to 2,637.24.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $1.67 to settle at $95.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But January crude, which now becomes the front-month contract, closed $1.26 below that, settling up $1.77 at $93.84 a barrel.
Other energy futures also rose Friday. December gasoline futures rose 3.92 cents to settle at $2.3754 a gallon on the Nymex, while December heating oil futures rose 2.84 cents to settle at $2.5871 a gallon. December natural gas futures gained 30.1 cents to settle at $8.001 per 1,000 cubic feet on the Nymex on forecasts for colder weather over the next couple of weeks.
In London, January Brent crude futures gained $1.39 to settle at $91.62 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
