Stocks End Week With Losses

"The year-over-year numbers are not going to be good, we're expecting the median company on the S&P 500 to report earnings that are down 21% year over year," says Charles Rotblut, senior market analyst for Zacks Investment Research. But Rotblut believes those forecasts could prove to be overly pessimistic.

"We've already had 21 of 26 companies top expectations among the early reporters," he says, "and although it's not a representative sample, it does set for a good tone and certainly if you look at some of the companies reporting next week -- particularly a company like Intel or Google -- we are seeing forecasts being revised upward heading into the earnings reports. So it does suggest that we could see some upside from some of the companies reporting."

In other news, General Motors exited Chapter 11 protection Friday morning after a quicker-than-expected reorganization. The U.S. automaker is exiting bankruptcy with $48 billion in debt, vs. $176 billion when it filed for Chapter 11 protection. It will proceed with four brands, including Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, after shedding Hummer, Saturn, Saab and Pontiac.

Also, embattled insurer American International Group (AIG Quote) is seeking the government's blessing to pay out more bonuses, including $235 million pending for employees at its controversial financial products unit, The Wall Street Journal reports. Its shares were up 23.8%, or $2.26, at $11.74.

As for commodities, crude oil futures fell 52 cents to settle at $59.89 a barrel, in line to have their biggest weekly decline since January, while gold gave up $3.70 to $912.50 an ounce.

Stocks overseas were modestly lower. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 and the DAX in Frankfurt fell 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively. In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan lost 0.04%, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.5%.

Longer-dated Treasuries were rising in price, falling in yield. The 10-year was adding 30/32 to yield 3.29%, while the 30-year rose 1-26/32, yielding 4.19%.

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