The battle over London's Stock Exchange heated up, while earnings season began in earnest with some of the biggest U.S. industrial companies reporting in the holiday-shortened week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 11,137.65 Thursday, the last trading day of the week, up gaining 0.2% from last Friday. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.6% for the week to 2,326.11, while the S&P 500 Index ended off 0.5% at 1,289.12.
Our weekend feature story considers whether the costs of the Iraq war are seeping into the Fed's policy-making decisions.
On MarketWatch Weekend, our TV show aired on CBS stations, we look at how you can get around tougher rules for redeeming frequent-flier miles.
-- Tom Bemis, assistant managing editor
Nasdaq buys 15% stake in London Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. , rebuffed last month in an effort to buy the London Stock Exchange with a $4.2 billion bid, said Tuesday that it has acquired a 14.99% stake in its target.
Alcoa shares reach two-year high as profit doubles
Shares of Alcoa Inc. surged to a two-year high before the bell Tuesday after the global aluminum giant reported first-quarter profit that more than doubled, bolstered by a 16% jump in sales in a market driven by strong demand from the commercial transportation and aerospace sectors.
GE posts forecast-matching growth, affirms outlook
General Electric Co. reported Thursday that first-quarter profit rose 9% after accounting for its planned exit from some insurance businesses.
Battling inflation is top job now, Fed governor says
With a stronger economy eating into the nation's unused labor and factory capacity, the Federal Reserve's top priority should be to keep inflation in check, an official with the central bank said Thursday.
Feds nab insider trading ring in $7M scam
A Merrill Lynch analyst and two Goldman Sachs employees built an illegal network to bilk investors out of $7 million by using inside information, in the most extensive insider-trading scandals uncovered in years on Wall Street, federal authorities said Tuesday.
Yahoo, eBay and Google to reveal Internet trends
When the big three Internet companies report next week, investors will get an indication of how quickly online advertising and commerce grew on the Web during the first three months of this year.
U.S. retail sales strengthen in March
U.S. retail sales increased 0.6% in March, the Commerce Department said Thursday, with unexpected strength in auto and building-materials sales.
Delta reaches tentative deal with pilots union
Delta Air Lines Inc. and the union representing its pilots said Friday that they reached a tentative deal that could avert a crippling strike at the bankrupt airline.
Are you a clueless investor? Take this quiz to find out
Behavioral finance took center stage a few years ago when the Nobel Prize for Economics went to a psychologist. Behavioral finance is the psychology of investment decisions, a science that shows investors are irrational. The award should have killed off Wall Street's myth of the 'rational investor.'
Irwin Kellner: If employment's up, why aren't wages?
If the labor market is as strong as March's unemployment rate suggests, how come wages are still not keeping pace with inflation? This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.