WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bank
closings for the year hit 100 on Friday when regulators shut down Partners Bank
in Florida. Financial institutions nationwide have collapsed under the weight
of soured real estate loans and the Great Recession. The Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. took over Partners Bank, a small bank in Naples, with $68.7
million in assets and $63.4 million in deposits. Stonegate Bank, based in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., agreed to buy the deposits and assets of Partners Bank. The 100 failures are the
most in a year since 1992 at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis. They
have cost the federal deposit insurance fund about $25 billion so far this
year, and hundreds more bank failures are expected to raise the cost to around
$100 billion through 2013. Home sales rise 9.4 pct. in
Sept., beat forecast WASHINGTON (AP) -- Racing to
complete their purchases before a tax credit for first-time owners expires,
homebuyers pushed sales up last month by the largest amount in more than 26
years. After jumping 9.4 percent in
September, home resales are up nearly 24 percent from the bottom in January,
the National Association of Realtors said Friday. But the housing market's
momentum could easily peter out if Congress doesn't extend the credit of up to
$8,000 for first-time buyers beyond its current Nov. 30 deadline. Nationwide sales rose to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million last month, from a downwardly
revised pace of 5.1 million in August. It was the strongest month two years and
beat economists' forecast of 5.35 million, according to Thomson Reuters. Sales,
however, are still down 23 percent from their peak four years ago. Stocks slide as railroads,
oil lose ground NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors
dumped stocks and locked in profits Friday after the glow of a week full of
strong earnings reports faded. The retreat came as cautious
forecasts from railroads caused unease about the economy and a rising dollar
pushed prices of commodities lower, which hurt materials and energy stocks. The
Dow Jones industrial average fell 109 points to 9,972.18, ending the week with
a modest loss. Traders appeared eager to
collect gains after earnings reports for the July-September quarter came in far
stronger than forecast, pushing major stock indexes up more than 6 percent in
three weeks. Microsoft sales fall; cost
cuts please investors SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft
said Friday its revenue kept falling and its net income dropped 18 percent in
the last quarter, partly due to the hesitation of businesses, which are more
profitable for the company than consumers are. Big cost cuts at Microsoft
made a difference, though, helping it deliver earnings well above analysts'
expectations. Its stock surged $1.29, nearly 5 percent, to $27.88 in afternoon
trading. Earlier in the day, the stock reached a 52-week high of $29.35. But while the quarterly
results looked good to Wall Street, they also showed how much Microsoft is
still wrestling with a PC industry that remains much weaker than a year ago. In
the past year the software maker resorted to its first wide-scale layoffs, and
in July it said its annual revenue had fallen for the first time since the
company went public in 1986. Bernanke urges Congress to
act now on overhaul WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke prodded Congress Friday to enact legislation
overhauling the nation's financial regulatory system to prevent a repeat of the
banking and credit debacles that had thrust the country into crisis. For its part, the Fed has
been taking steps to strengthen oversight of banks, sharpen consumer
protections and on Thursday unveiled a sweeping proposal to police banks' pay
policies to make sure they don't encourage top executives and other employees
to take reckless gambles. But Congress needs to step
in and close regulatory gaps and make other changes that only lawmakers have
the power to do, Bernanke said. Crude rally stalls but
gasoline nears summer high NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices
surged 25 percent in less than a month, dredging up memories of last year's
spike and gas prices could soon eclipse summer highs. Crude is being tugged higher
for different reasons this time, rising primarily as the dollar gets weaker.
Oil is traded in the dollar, which allows investors holding euros or other
strong currencies to buy more as the dollar falls. The dollar hit an annual low
on Friday, and anyone holding a euro could trade it in for more than $1.50. By Friday, even the plunging
value of the dollar could not push prices higher as it had throughout the week,
most likely because there is little to suggest that all of that oil will be
used. Dole shares fall following
IPO that priced low NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of
Dole Food Co. edged below their starting point Friday after the fruit and
vegetable producer's initial public offering priced below what it had
previously expected. The stock, which trades on
the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "DOLE," declined 17
cents to $12.33. The company, which is
controlled by businessman and investor David H. Murdock, was most recently
publicly traded in 2003. After the new public
offering, Murdock, who is also Dole's chairman, will own 59 percent of the
company. Murdock took the company private in March 2003 in a transaction valued
at $2.5 billion. Industry halts food label
program over FDA concern PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The
Smart Choices nutrition labeling program, created voluntarily by nine large
U.S. manufacturers, is halting after federal regulators said such systems could
mislead consumers, officials with the labeling group said Friday. Industry leaders launched
the program this year to highlight foods that meet certain nutritional
standards with a green label on package fronts. The Food and Drug
Administration said Tuesday that such programs may mislead consumers about the
health benefits of certain foods, and it told manufacturers it will crack down
on inaccurate labeling. It did not criticize specific products or label
programs or give a timeline for enforcement. House panel's probe targets
big mortgage lenders WASHINGTON (AP) -- A House
panel is investigating the role of mortgage lenders in the financial crisis and
is seeking information from some of the biggest U.S. companies to determine if
they used deceptive practices to lure borrowers into the housing boom. Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y.,
chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Friday
the panel also is issuing a subpoena to Countrywide Financial Corp. -- now
owned by Bank of America Corp. -- for records related to its so-called
"VIP" program that provided mortgages to several senators and other
officials with preferential terms. Documents provided in response to the
subpoena will go to the House ethics committee. Sources: Fisker to build
plug-in cars in Delaware DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Fisker
Automotive, a California-based startup manufacturer of luxury electric
vehicles, plans to build plug-in electric cars at a former General Motors
assembly plant in Delaware, people with knowledge of the situation said Friday. Henrik Fisker, the company's
co-founder and chief executive, said Tuesday that an announcement about the
location of a manufacturing facility was in the works. He declined to elaborate
on the site but appeared to rule out a California facility where Toyota plans
to halt production in March 2010. A person who has knowledge
of the situation but didn't want to be identified because an announcement has
not been made, confirmed that Fisker has settled on GM's Boxwood Road facility
in Wilmington. By The Associated Press The Dow fell 109.13, or 1.1
percent, to 9,972.18. The S&P 500 index fell
13.31, or 1.2 percent, to 1,079.60. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10.82, or
0.5 percent, to 2,154.47. Benchmark crude for December
delivery gave up 69 cents Friday to settle at $80.50 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for
December delivery lost 59 cents to settle at $78.92 on the ICE Futures
exchange. In other Nymex trading,
heating oil dropped about 2 cents to settle at $2.0438 a gallon. Gasoline for
November delivery lost less than a penny to settle at $2.0438 a gallon, while
natural gas for November delivery lost 16 cents to settle at $4.787 per 1,000
cubic feet.