Friday's Financial Winners & Losers

ABN Amro (ABN Quote) got a lift after The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup (C Quote) executives are attempting to prod CEO Charles Prince into bidding for the Dutch bank, which is currently in merger talks with Britain's Barclay's. ABN shares were trading up 90 cents, or 2.1%, to $43.05. Citigroup was dipping 26 cents to $51.58.

Freddie Mac (FRE Quote) rose after it announced a new $1 billion stock repurchase program. The mortgage-investment firm also said 2006 earnings totaled $2.2 billion, or $2.84 a share -- a slight improvement over 2005's $2.75 a share -- though the fourth quarter saw a big loss. Shares were adding 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $62.70.

State Street (STT Quote) climbed after an analyst at UBS said the Boston-based bank's fundamentals have been steadily improving, prompting an upgrade to buy from neutral. Shares were gaining $1.03, or 1.6%, to $65.97.

Friedman Billings upped Progressive's (PGR Quote) rating to market-perform from underperform, pushing the insurer's shares up 30 cents, or 1.4%, to $22.12.