Stocks Open Modestly Lower

Senate Democrats said late Thursday that they'd reached an agreement with Citigroup (C Quote) to support a bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to alter the terms of mortgages owed by consumers filing for bankruptcy, aiming to alleviate foreclosures for those consumers.

The private-equity arm of collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers has reached an agreement to spin out into an independent firm, taking in a new investment from luxury-goods billionaire Johann Rupert, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, according to the Journal, Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) is wrapping up its search for a CEO. The Journal reports that final candidates include Carol Bartz, former CEO of Autodesk (ADSK Quote).

Retail numbers rolled in much lower than expected on Thursday, sending the major indices sharply lower, but stocks in New York pared losses after the president elect delivered a pitch for his economic recovery plan.

On Friday, the dollar declined against other major currencies. Oil prices fell 88 cents to $40.82 a barrel, while gold fell $4.80 at 849.70 an ounce.

Overseas, the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt were rising Friday. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended with losses.