Dow Rises Above 11,000

Stocks rose Friday despite employers cutting 95,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6 percent. For traders and investors, today's government report only strengthened the belief that the Federal Reserve will take action to stimulate the economy when it meets in November. The Dow Jones ended the day at 11,006. It's the first time the Dow has crossed that 11,000 mark since May. The S&P 500 rose, to end the day at 1,165. The NASDAQ ended up at 2,402.

Applications for unemployment benefits fell last week for the fourth time in five weeks, a sign that layoffs are declining. The Labor Department says initial claims dropped by 11,000, to a seasonally adjusted 445,000. That's the lowest level since early July.

Wells Fargo Settles Loan Case

Wells Fargo says it will pay $24 million to New Jersey and seven other states, to end investigations into its "pick-a-payment" loans.  Those loans allowed borrowers to choose how much they wanted to pay each month. Often, those payments did not even cover the interest due. Attorneys general for the states were concerned that Wells Fargo did not disclose those risks, and may have deceived borrowers.

GOVERNMENT BAILOUT WILL COST LESS THAN EXPECTED

The Treasury Department says the $700 billion financial bailout -- also known as TARP -- will cost taxpayers only $50 billion. The report comes two years and two days after Congress approved the bailout fund that provided billions to hundreds of banks. Critics say that while the program stabilized the financial sector, it did not do enough to prevent foreclosures and keep homeowners in their homes.

Alleging anti-competitive practices, the Justice Department filed suit against the three largest U.S. credit card companies in Brooklyn federal court Monday. At the same time, the Department announced a possible settlement with two of those card companies. That agreement would prohibit Visa and MasterCard from preventing retailers from offering discounts for using certain charge cards. The Justice Department continues to seek a settlement with American Express.

It looks like the Federal Reserve is not done with efforts to get the economy back on track. Speaking in New York today, an influential member of the central bank's policymaking group said more action by the Fed is likely.

Remember AIG? It was once the world's largest insurer, and two years ago this month, at the height of the financial crisis, it got a multi-billion taxpayer bailout to save it from collapse. Today, the company announced a plan to repay taxpayers and bring government ownership to an end. The company's CEO, Robert Benmosche, called the agreement  a "pivotal milestone."

Stocks slipped today as protests against austerity measures in Europe brought new worries about the region's financial system.  In trading today, the Dow gave up 23 points, closing at 10,835. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 had modest losses as well. The dollar also fell further against other currencies on anticipation of more action by the Federal Reserve to push U.S. interest rates down.

Another report confirms that the housing market is stuck in the doldrums. Home prices fell slightly in July by 0.1 percent after rising in June, according to the S&P/Case Shiller report. Perhaps more worrisome -- prices fell in more cities surveyed. "In about half of cities, prices are lower than they were a year ago," said Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insights. "And last month, it was only five, and a couple of months ago it was even smaller than that, so we are seeing weakness in prices." But in New York, there's perhaps another sign that the economy here is doing better than in other parts of the country. Prices actually rose by one percent.

There's trouble in the Eurozone. French leaders clashed with German leaders and the European Central Bank in a conference today, rejecting a proposal that would punish European Union nations with near-automatic sanctions, if they fail to keep their debt and budget deficits within limits.