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WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Friday defended the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, saying the United States economy’s strength, openness and competitiveness would “shine through” the current market turmoil.

WASHINGTON - United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp , could ground up to 100 planes, if necessary, to save money on fuel expenses, a company official has said, and other large carriers are talking about similar steps, an industry source has said on Friday.

NEW YORK - Stocks fell for a third session on Friday after a disappointing outlook from Qualcomm Inc causeed more weakness in technology shares and helped send the Nasdaq down to its largegest weekly point loss since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

WASHINGTON - Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae
expects to see its home loan loss rate double in 2008
compared to this year, the company’s chief executive has said on
Friday.

NEW YORK - Merck & Co has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle most of the claims that its painkiller Vioxx caused heart attacks and strokes in thousands of users, the drug maker has said on Friday.

NEW YORK - Stocks dropped on Friday, led by further losses in technology shares, including Microsoft Corp., on concern about the profit outlook.

NEW YORK - The United States credit crisis deepened on Friday as Wachovia Corp reported a $1.1 billion loss on subprime mortgage-related debt in October, while Capital One Financial Corp has said more customers are missing payments.

NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc on Friday has said shaky credit markets could cause more write-downs in the fourth quarter as the bank is exposed to about $50 billion worth of leveraged loans, risky subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations.