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IBD's Top 10 - Friday
Friday May 23, 6:56 pm ET
Investor's Business Daily

Stocks Add To Week's Losses

1 Rebounded oil prices pressured stocks again, capping a bearish week for the market. The S&P 500 lost 1.3% Fri., the NYSE composite 1.2% and the Dow 1.2%. The Nasdaq fell 0.8% as bullish analyst comments on Apple and Dell limited the Nasdaq 100's loss to 0.3%. Volume fell across the board. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slid 9 basis points to 3.83%.

Existing-Home Inventory Surges

2 April existing-home and condo sales slid 1% to an annualized 4.89 mil units, equal to Jan.'s record low. Single-family home sales hit a 10-year low. Inventory of unsold homes shot up to 11.2 months' worth, with the 1-family rate at a 23-year peak. Home supplies have to fall sharply before prices bottom, most analysts say.

Energy Up On Hurricane Fears

3 Forecasts for lots of hurricanes this year helped drive oil and natural gas prices higher ahead of the season's start in June. July crude climbed $1.38 to $132.19, hitting $133.69 intraday as investors piled in after Thursday's price pullback. June natural gas rose 16 cents to $11.87 per mil British thermal units -- its highest since Dec. '05.

Americans Put Brakes On Driving

4 Highway miles driven in March fell 4.3% vs. a year earlier, the biggest drop since the Transportation Dept. began estimates in '42. It was March's 1st yearly drop since '79, during the last major oil shock. Americans were expected to drive less on Memorial Day weekend vs. a year earlier for the first time since '02. Gasoline prices are headed toward $4 a gallon, with diesel already over $4.50.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Buy Loans

5 The gov't-sponsored home loan finance giants bulked up their buys of mortgage-backed securities in April at the fastest pace since at least '04. Egged on by regulators and lawmakers to help stabilize housing, Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News) and sister firm Fannie (NYSE:FNM - News) are taking advantage of eased capital restrictions to buy loans even as they report huge mortgage losses.

Yahoo Snubs Icahn, Eyes Google

6 The Web giant urged investors to reject billionaire Carl Icahn's bid to gain control of Yahoo's (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News) board. Icahn launched a proxy fight to unseat 5 directors for rejecting a $42 bil buyout by Microsoft. Separately, Yahoo and Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) have agreed to partner on online ads, a published report said. The announcement may be made as soon as this week. Yahoo rose 0.7%. Google fell 0.9%.

China, Russia Slam Missile Plan

7 The nations condemned U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, contending it "hampers int'l efforts in arms control." The statement was issued during a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to China. The State Dept. asserted the missile shield is needed to combat a "common threat" facing both Europe and Russia from rogue nations.

Burma Accepts More Foreign Aid

8 Burma's junta agreed to allow foreign aid workers into the cyclone-devastated country, said U.N. Sec'y-General Ban Ki-moon, but it still refuses to let U.S., British and French warships dock with relief supplies. A May 2 storm killed at least 78,000 and left 2.5 mil survivors with little food and supplies, but Burma's generals haven't let int'l disaster teams into the country.

Halliburton Bidding For Oil Firm

9 Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - News) made a conditional $3.36 bil all-cash offer for British oil services firm Expro Int'l, topping a $3.16 bil bid made last month by a consortium led by Candover Partners and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS - News). Within hours, Candover lifted its bid to $3.4 bil. Expro's profit surged 40% last year amid soaring oil prices. Halliburton shares fell 1% to 47.77.

Top Iraq Cleric Shifts Vs. U.S.

10 Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, a supporter of PM Nouri al-Maliki, has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring armed resistance vs. the U.S. as OK, sources say. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has not publicly expressed such views, may be seeking to shore support vs. radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but it undermines al-Maliki's authority and may strain U.S. ties.