AP
Business Highlights
Friday November 7, 7:29 pm ET

Stocks rise after 2 days of heavy selling

NEW YORK (AP) -- Buyers returned to Wall Street Friday after two days of heavy losses, mindful of the economy's growing problems but attracted by stocks' lower prices. Analysts said the advance was to be expected as Wall Street experiences a rocky recovery from October's devastating selling.

The major indexes jumped more than 2 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which rose nearly 250 points to 8,943.81 in light trading. For the week, the Dow and broader benchmarks like the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost about 4 percent after surging 10 percent or more last week.

GM reports $2.5B 3Q loss, says running out of cash

DETROIT, Mich. (AP) -- General Motors Corp. reported a $2.5 billion loss in the third quarter and warned Friday that it could run out of cash in 2009 if the U.S. economic slump continues and it doesn't get government aid. GM also said it has suspended talks to acquire Chrysler.

The news came hours after Ford Motor Co. said it lost $129 million for its third quarter and will cut about 2,260 more white-collar workers in North America as the industry tries to weather the worst economic downturn in decades. As U.S. and global economies have rapidly deteriorated, auto sales have nearly shut down.

Jobless rate bolts to 14-year high of 6.5 percent

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's unemployment rate bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were cut, far worse than economists expected and stark proof the economy is deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace.

The new snapshot, released Friday by the Labor Department, showed the crucial jobs market quickly eroding. The jobless rate zoomed to 6.5 percent in October from 6.1 percent in September, matching the rate in March 1994.

Crude steady after 2 days of sharp drops

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Oil prices were sedentary Friday after this week's giant sell-off, despite a government report showing the unemployment rate hit a 14-year high last month and predictions from an international energy agency that put the price of crude at $200 per barrel by 2030.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose 27 cents to settle at $61.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But the contract dropped below $60 in overnight electronic trading for the first time 19 months.

Pending home sales fell 4.6 percent in September

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pending U.S. home sales fell more than expected in September, after posting a big jump in the previous month.

The National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 4.6 percent Friday to a reading of 89.2. That's down from an upwardly revised August reading of 93.5.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a September reading of 90.6.

Berkshire reports 77 percent drop in 3Q earnings

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Friday reported a 77 percent drop in third-quarter earnings, hurt by declining insurance profits and a $1.05 billion investment loss.

Net income fell to $1.06 billion, or $682 per Class A share, in the quarter ending Sept. 30. That's down sharply from year-ago profit of $4.55 billion, or $2,942 per share, which included a $2 billion gain aided by the sale of PetroChina stock.

Operating profit in Berkshire's insurance underwriting business, which includes Geico and General Reinsurance, plunged to $81 million from $486 million a year ago.

Sprint Nextel losing subscribers and money

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. watched another 1.3 million wireless subscribers head for its competitors during the third quarter, leading the company to post a loss that sent its stock skidding Friday.

The nation's third-largest wireless provider said it lost $326 million, or 11 cents per share, for the three months ending Sept. 30. It had earned $64 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Microsoft CEO: No interest in buying Yahoo

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Yahoo Inc. shares dived nearly 13 percent after the chief executive of Microsoft Corp. said Friday the software giant is not interested in renewing its bid for the struggling Internet company.

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer told a business lunch in Sydney that he had moved on after Yahoo rejected its takeover bid in the spring. He did suggest a partnership in the search engine market is possible.

Japan's Panasonic, Sanyo in talks on takeover

TOKYO (AP) -- Panasonic and smaller Japanese rival Sanyo said Friday they are starting talks on a buyout deal that would create one of the world's largest electronics companies as soon as year-end.

Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo and Sanyo President Seiichiro Sano shook hands at a news conference in Osaka, monitored by satellite TV in Tokyo, underlining their willingness to negotiate Panasonic's acquisition of Sanyo.

Airlines' on-time performance improved in Sept.

ATLANTA (AP) -- U.S. airlines' on-time performance and baggage handling improved in September, though the carriers overall posted a higher rate of domestic cancellations compared to the same month a year ago, the Transportation Department said Friday.

Delta Air Lines Inc.'s regional subsidiary, Comair, had the worst on-time performance in September, while Hawaiian Airlines had the best.

By The Associated Press

The Dow rose 248.02, or 2.85 percent, to 8,943.81.

The broader S&P 500 index added 26.11, or 2.89 percent, to 930.99, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 38.70, or 2.41 percent, to 1,647.40.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 9.95, or 2.01 percent, to 505.79.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose 27 cents to settle at $61.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose a penny to $1.3495 a gallon. Heating oil gained 3.6 cents to $1.9784 a gallon while natural gas for December delivery fell 22 cents to $6.757 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, December Brent crude fell 8 cents to $57.08 on the ICE Futures exchange.