Week Ends With Green

After the prior close, Disney said fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled, reaching $782 million, or 36 cents a share, up from $379 million, or 19 cents a share, last year. Revenue rose 14% from a year ago to $8.78 billion. Still, Disney dropped $1.18, or 3.5%, to finish at $32.40, due to concerns about its growth prospects.

Meanwhile, AIG (AIG Quote) said its profits surged in the third quarter, owing to the lack of catastrophic hurricanes this year. In the quarter, AIG earned $4.22 billion, or $1.61 a share, compared with $1.75 billion and 66 cents a share a year earlier. The third quarter of last year included $1.57 billion of catastrophe losses. Shares rose $1.59, or 2.3%, to $69.63, providing limited support for the Dow.

On Thursday, the industrials faltered following three straight sessions of gains, sliding 73.24 points, or 0.6%, to 12,103.30 as Merck (MRK Quote) and Pfizer (PFE Quote) dropped.

The Nasdaq was higher for much of the day thanks to strength in Cisco (CSCO Quote), but the index finished down 8.93 points, or 0.37%, to 2376.01.

"Overall, it was just a bad day," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist with Cantor Fitzgerald. "The bulls couldn't find a foothold in any area. Oil was up, the dollar down, China's deficit is contentious, consumer sentiment is slipping, housing continues to crumble, and Cisco couldn't save the semiconductors."

Also following the close, Delta Air Lines (DALRQ Quote) posted a quarterly profit, and chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA Quote) posted better profits than analysts were expecting for the third quarter.

Both Piper Jaffray and Stifel Nicolaus raised their stock price targets for Kohl's (KSS Quote) after the retailer posted a 45% jump in third-quarter earnings, beating estimates. Kohl's also upped its full-year forecast, adding that it plans to spend substantially more on holiday marketing. Shares overcame early weakness and tacked on 75 cents, or 1%, to close at $73.69.

With no economic data on the docket, the benchmark 10-year note was up 6/32 in price, yielding 4.58%. The dollar was declining against the world's other major currencies.

Crude futures ended down after two consecutive sessions of gains pushed prices above $61 a barrel. The International Energy Agency cut its 2006 global oil demand forecast, sending prices lower by $1.57 to $59.59 a barrel. Precious metals were also lower, with gold futures down by $6.70 to close at $630.10.

Overseas, European markets were lower. London's FTSE 100 was down 0.4% to 6210, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX was off 0.2% to 6348. Asia's markets also showed weakness. The Nikkei dropped 0.5% at 16,112, and the Hang Seng fell 0.3% to 18,891.

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting