Business

D.R. Horton sees 26 perecent spike in 4Q orders
Homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc., saw new home orders spike 26 percent from a year ago in the latest quarter as buyers raced to close deals and take advantage of a federal tax credit. But a wider-than-anticipated loss fueled by write-downs sent shares tumbling more than 15 percent Friday....

More states add jobs, but many for temporary staff
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment....

Stocks fall for 3rd day as dollar strengthens
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors can't shake their fears that the economy isn't keeping up with the stock market....

Ex-Vivendi CEO: I made mistakes but never misled
NEW YORK (AP) -- Former Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier told a jury Friday he made mistakes in his troubled bid to turn the French water company into a global media giant, but he never misled shareholders about the risks....

Americans save more but earn less as rates fall
NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. is finally becoming a nation of savers. Now if only we could get something for our money....

Small Florida bank shuttered, 124th this year
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Florida banking regulators on Friday shut down Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, marking the 124th U.S. bank to succumb this year to the struggling economy and rising loan defaults....

Chase drops arbitration from card contracts
BOSTON (AP) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Friday it is dropping a clause from its credit card contracts that required disputes with customers to be handled through binding arbitration, a move that could lead to consumers filing class-action and other lawsuits....

J.M. Smucker 2nd-quarter profit soars on coffee
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- J.M. Smucker Co. nearly tripled its profit in the second quarter as the addition of Folgers coffee gave a jolt to its lineup and lower commodity prices for coffee beans and other items fattened its profit margins....

Natural gas plunges 12 percent this month
NEW YORK (AP) -- Natural gas prices have dropped by more than 12 percent in the past month as the country continues to sip at its energy reserves and a balmy November allowed homeowners to leave the heat off....

EU extends Oracle/Sun review deadline until Jan 27
BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc....