Gold prices pulled back slightly from 27-year highs Friday as some investors paused to cash in profits ahead of the weekend after five straight days of gains.
Bank of America Corp. said Friday that continued "market dislocations,"including those related to the value of securities it owns that are backed by loans, will hurt its fourth quarter results.
Floods have destroyed crops in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco ?Mexico's largest producer of cacao and a major grower of bananas ?but the losses were not expected to affect international prices, agriculture experts said Friday.
JPMorgan Chase &Co. may have to write down more of its loan portfolio in the fourth quarter as a feeble economy and the growing credit crisis continues to rattle some of financial industry's biggest names.
Wall Street finished a turbulent week with another huge drop Friday after major banks warned of further losses on their debt portfolios, raising investor concerns that the credit market slump shows no sign of abating. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 220 points.
Russian steel maker OAO Severstal said Friday it struck a deal to buy gold and precious metals miner Celtic Resources Holdings PLC for 173 million pounds (US$364 million; ?248 million).
The weakening dollar has caused many problems for consumers, but it may also be providing the fuel for one unintended ?and very welcome ?benefit: a rally in the struggling U.S. housing market driven by foreign investors.
Seven more U.S. children were sickened after ingesting Chinese-made toy beads that were recalled earlier this week because of a toxic chemical coating, the government said Friday.
U.S. regulators should be open to giving foreign exchanges easier access to U.S. investors, but similar treatmentfor foreign brokers would be "ill-advised,"a top Securities and Exchange Commission official said Friday.
United Auto Workers locals in Michigan and Illinois overwhelmingly have approved a new contract with Ford Motor Co., the local union presidents said Friday.
