Wall Street Closes Erratic Week Mixed

Wall Street finished an erratic week narrowly mixed Friday after a government report of a steep decline in new home sales stirred concerns that weakness in housing will continue to dog the economy. The major indexes lost ground for the week. The Commerce Department report that new home sales fell 9 percent from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 647,000 triggered renewed nervousness that consumers could become uneasy and tamp down their spending. Stocks, which fell more than 1 percent Thursday following unwelcome economic readings and the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, fluctuated through the day Friday.

Rupert Murdoch Buys The Wall Street Journal

Rupert Murdoch has bought the Wall Street Journal. I wonder what kind of difference that is going to make in the paper? He appeared to be on the verge of clinching a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co., reportedly lining up sufficient support to take over stewardship of The Wall Street Journal Publisher from the family that has controlled it for more than a century. And he finally got it. This could be quite a change, maybe.