Stocks End Week Down
05/09/08 - 04:41 PM EDT
TSC Staff
Updated from 3:46 p.m. EDT
Stocks in the U.S. were weak for the entire session and closed lower Friday as traders dealt with another sizable loss at AIG (AIG Quote - Cramer on AIG - Stock Picks) and a continuing advance in crude oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 120.90 points, or 0.9%, to 12,745.88, and the S&P 500 lost 9.40 points, or 0.7%, at 1388.28. The Nasdaq gave back 5.72 points, or 0.2%, at 2445.52. One of the drags on the Dow was AIG, which fell 8.8% to $40.28. The selloff came a day after the insurer said it lost $7.81 billion in its first quarter because of big writedowns on credit-default swaps and mortgage-related investments. Also depressing sentiment was oil's extended climb into uncharted territory. Crude was up $2.27 to $125.96 a barrel in New York, its best-ever finish. Earlier, it was as high as $126.25. AIG wasn't the only key financial company making headlines as the week came to a close. Citigroup (C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks), also part of the Dow, was down 2.8% to $23.63 as investors mulled word that CEO Vikram Pandit is looking at ways to shed as much as $400 billion in noncore assets. One of the big winners was Circuit City (CC Quote - Cramer on CC - Stock Picks), whose shares jumped 5.9% to $5.07 after the consumer-electronics seller said it would open its books to potential buyer Blockbuster (BBI Quote - Cramer on BBI - Stock Picks) and the video rental chain's largest shareholder, billionaire investor Carl Icahn. On the technology side, Nvidia (NVDA Quote - Cramer on NVDA - Stock Picks) gained 2.6% a day after its quarterly report, which was followed by a Stifel Nicolaus upgrade. Priceline.com (PCLN Quote - Cramer on PCLN - Stock Picks) was even more impressive, adding 12% to $138.63 in the wake of its strong numbers.
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