Tepid Forecasts Spark Selloff

Stocks finished off the week lower after some of the biggest gainers from the recent rally retreated. Three stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 892.2 million shares. Stocks had initially risen following upbeat results from Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) and an encouraging reading on existing home sales. During afternoon trading, banks, energy shares and transportation companies led the selloff. Transportation shares took a hit after investors received some cautious forecasts from Union Pacific's and Burlington Northern . In other news, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday that the turmoil in the financial system is abating, but reform must happen to prevent a future crisis. Bond prices fell, sending their yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.48 percent from 3.42 percent. The dollar gained versus the euro, after falling to a 14-month low earlier in the week.

Word on the Street

Sales of existing US homes climbed in September to the highest level in more than two years as homebuyers rushed to purchase homes before the federal tax credit expires. This comes one day after it was reported that home prices are continuing to slide. This truly is a buyer's market.

Housing News: Sobering Enough to Offset Earnings Euphoria ?

Initial reports suggested that the holiday shopping season would be another disappointment, but Amazon's (AMZN) third quarter results are causing analysts to rethink that prediction. The company reported a 69% increase in Q3 profits and issued a positive outlook about the current quarter. Shares of the company climbed as much as 23 percent to $114.75 following the news.

Barnes & Noble's E-Reader was Unveiled . Should Amazon be worried about the Nook luring some of the Kindle users away?

Federal officials are looking into whether pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight dozed off or if they were engaged in a heated argument that caused the plane to zoom right passed its designation .

American Express (AXP) posted profit that exceeded most analysts' estimates as a result of trimming expenses and far less credit card losses.

Can American Express charge ahead of its rivals?

Thinking about investing in AMEX? Read this before making that decision.

General Motors Co. delayed the signing of a final agreement to sell its Opel unit to Magna International Inc. until next month at the earliest so its board can respond to a European Union review of the deal.

Based on Neflix's (NFLX) latest quarter, people are still renting and watching movies from the online company. The company announced that its third-quarter profit nearly doubled . Neflix also announced that it plans to launch a streaming service beginning in the second half of 2010. Initially, the service will only be available outside the US.

Other Juicy Tidbits

Who cares if Wall Street 'talent' leaves? -- If lower pay lures some of Wall Street's finest away, so be it. It's not as if the best and brightest were doing a good job to begin with.

Are we there yet? Yes (sigh), we're there. The U.S. has maxed out on credit.

Dear Mr. Bernanke, Try Doing This

5 evil things credit card firms do to you.

Preventing the Next Financial Crisis -- Don't be fooled by the bond market. Banks are holding prices down because they can buy Treasurys with free money from the Fed.