Stocks News

Ecuador said Friday it will delay a $30.6 million interest payment on its foreign debt while it investigates the contracts.

Stocks fell on Friday after a record drop in retail sales last month heightened fears that American consumers' reluctance to spend will push the economy into an even deeper downturn than currently expected.

The Eurozone the 15 countries that use the euro has officially slipped into its first recession, as the region's gross domestic product contracted by 0.2% in both the second and third quarters of 2008.

The economic crisis and the social networking craze have converged, spawning social networking websites aimed at helping their members to come up with and stick to a budget while sharing information, tips and ...

The U.S. dollar was lower against other major currencies in European trading Friday morning. Gold rose.

The euro traded at $1.2703, up from $1.2387 late Thursday in New York.

Other dollar rates:

_96.96 Japanese yen, down from 97.09 yen

_1.1891 Swiss francs, down from 1.1912

_1.2172 Canadian dollars, down from 1.2264

The British pound was quoted at $1.4835, up from $1.4671.

Gold traded in London at $729.50 per troy ounce, up from $713.50 late Thursday.

By ALAN ZIBEL Friday, November 14, 2008 9:45 AM EST WASHINGTON - Freddie Mac is asking for an initial injection of $13.8 billion in government aid after posting a massive quarterly loss.

The presidential field has been paired from fifteen-plus candidates to just two.

San Mateo County has filed a lawsuit against executives of the Lehman Bros. investment firm, which went bankrupt in September and lost more than $150 million of county taxpayers' money, county spokesman ...

Oil prices hovered around $58 a barrel Friday in Asia, slightly extending overnight gains, as traders took their cue from a jump in global stock markets.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery was up 4 cents to $58.28 a barrel, after rising as high as $59.96 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The crude futures contract overnight rose $2.08 to settle at $58.24 after dipping to $54.67, a price last seen in January 2007.

'Oil is just following the equity market,' said Gerard Rigby, an energy analyst with Fuel First Consulting in Sydney. 'If the stock market improves, oil will go up on perceived improved demand.'

The gradual loosening in bank-to-bank lending may be pausing _ a key interbank lending rate on Thursday rose, albeit modestly, for the first time in 23 days.

The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three-month dollar loans rose to 2.15 percent from 2.13 percent on Wednesday. This rate is a rough indicator of banks' willingness to make loans to one another, and determines some consumer loan rates, including those on adjustable-rate mortgages.

About a month ago, the three-month dollar Libor peaked at 4.82 percent. At that time, financial institutions were worried about other banks failing in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s mid-September bankruptcy. Libor for three-month dollar loans eventually fell to four-year lows as governments around the world pumped money into the global financial system.