New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks moved in and out of positive territory Friday after Thursday’s big gains, and finished the week substantially higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day at 12,231.02 up 22.48, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index nudged up 50 cents to $1,285 and the NASDAQ most 1.48 to finish the week at 2,737.15

Oil closed up a few pennies at $93.42, and gold lost $3.50 to $1,743.90 a troy ounce.

Investors reacted positively to reports that showed consume spending and income both rose, and a separate report revealing that consumer sentiment edged up a bit.

Stocks staged a explosive rally on Thursday rising more than 330 points after European leaders came to an agreement on the euro zone sovereign debt crisis. But as analysts began digesting the news, doubts emerged if the $610 billion infusion will be enough.

The next big focus here in the states will be Congress’ so called “super committee” on deficit reduction.

With just one trading day left in the month, U.S. equities are on track to turn in their best October on record.

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Overall, income from employment and other sources rose 0.3 percent in the United States in February, on par with the trend over the past half year or so, according to a report released Monday from the Commerce Department. Consumer spending rose even faster, by 0.7 percent – partially because of growing confidence in the staying-power of an economic recovery.

But as the recovery has taken hold, so has an upward trend in prices for basic commodities like grains and gasoline. In February, U.S. consumers were basically forced to spend more because of rising prices for groceries and fuel. Adjusted for consumer-price inflation, the gains in household earnings disappeared, with “real” disposable personal income actually falling 0.1 percent for the month.

“The American consumer does not seem to be getting a break in the first quarter of 2011 due to rising gasoline and food prices, a poor housing market, tight credit conditions, and stock market volatility,” economist Chris Christopher of IHS Global Insight wrote in an analysis of the Commerce Department numbers.

Despite the negative forces weighing on household pocketbooks, Christopher also notes improvement in the job market and a broad income boost for Americans because of the one-year cut in payroll taxes passed late last year.

The tax cut for millions of workers went into effect in January, but snowstorms kept some of them from starting to spend extra cash right away. That, alongside the rising prices, helps explain why consumer spending got an upward bounce in February.

It’s not clear how persistent the uptick in inflation will be. Oil and gasoline prices, for example, could hinge heavily on events in Libya and the Middle East.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in testimony to Congress earlier this month, painted modest inflation as the likely scenario for this year. With unemployment still high, he cited little risk that labor costs would become a source of inflationary pressure.

For four months prior to February, gains in personal income outpaced inflation, bolstering consumers’ contribution to the economic recovery.

Still, global prices for oil and food have been on an upward course since last summer – long before the recent unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.

In his testimony, Bernanke added a cautionary note: “Sustained rises in the prices of oil or other commodities,” he warned, “would represent a threat both to economic growth and to overall price stability, particularly if they were to cause inflation expectations to become less well-anchored.”

Personal income from all sources, including wages, investments, and government transfer payments, totaled $37,511 per person in February, the Commerce Department reported. Per-capita incomes have risen 0.7 percent since the middle of last year, on an inflation-adjusted basis. Click to write a comment or read comments about this post. MinnPost.com Full RSS Articles brought to you by: MinnRoast 2011 — Journalists & politicians gently skewered Expecting 817 as of now. Call 612-455-6954 with last minute requests for Show Only tix.

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Dearborn, MI, United States (AHN) – Shares of Ford dropped on Friday after the automaker reported dismal fourth-quarter earnings.

Stocks dropped more than 11 percent upon news that the Dearborn-based company’s profit plunged 79 percent in the last three months.

Ford said net income from October through December was $190 million, or 5 cents a share, down from from $886 million, or 25 cents, a year ago.

Profit was negatively affected by a $960 million charge related to an ongoing effort to reduce its debt. The debt conversion charge during the quarter reduced the company’s debt by $1.9 billion.

Revenue rose $1.6 billion to $32.5 billion. Sales rose by 35 percent in Asia Pacific and Africa but fell in Europe, where the automaker previously decided to reduce its participation in low-margin businesses.

Europe was the only segment to report a profit loss. There, Ford lost $51 million, compared to a profit of $253 million during the fourth quarter a year ago.

Pre-tax profit in Asia Pacific and Africa rose to $23 million, from $16 million last year. In North America, profit was $670 million, $59 million more than a year ago.

For the full 2010 fiscal year, revenue was $120.9 billion, an increase of $17 billion from last year. Net income for the full year was $6.6 billion, a $3.8 billion increase and Ford’s largest profit for more than a decade.

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London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility warned Monday that the country’s inflation rate would likely outpace income growth over the next two years.

The OBR forecasts 2011 inflation rate at 2.8 percent, while average earnings will rise by only 2.2 percent. The higher Consumer Price Index outlook is based on significant increases in food prices and household energy bills since summer.

However, by 2012 the OBR foresees a slight improvement in the financial situation with inflation likely slowing to 1.9 percent, while average earnings would rise by 2.4 percent.

Despite the bleak OBR outlook, Chancellor George Osborne said the British coalition government would still go ahead with spending cuts, tax hikes and austerity measures that would have an impact on economic recovery if export weakens and unemployment rises faster than expected.

Osborne is still optimistic that Britain can avoid a double-dip recession in 2011 and achieve a growth rate of 1.8 percent this year. He told MPs that while there is uncertainty, Britain’s recovery is on track and 1 million jobs are still expected to be created by the private sector as a result of the recovery.

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London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – A study by British insurer Bright Grey found that about 7 million Britons are spending more than their income. Even as the people suffer a yearly budget deficit of $6,480 (4,320 pounds), they refuse to change their lifestyle.

About 33 percent of them acknowledge that it is their spending habits that cause a large hole on their family budget and 8 percent admit it led them to debt.

Bright Grey Director Roger Edwards said the results of the study are worrisome because the average British salary of $2,550 (1,700 pounds) a month is not enough for residents to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. Some Britons have to resort to going into debt to maintain their current level of living or just meet their basic needs.

The insufficiency of current wages to meet the needs of an average Briton is not surprising. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that on a macro level Britain’s wealth has registered its largest drop in six decades.

The measure of that is the gross domestic product per capita, which has dropped 5.5 percent from 2009. It is the largest decline since 1949, caused basically by six quarters of recession that ended late last year that lopped 6 percent from Britain’s gross domestic product, and caused the loss of 600,000 jobs.

According to the ONS, household net wealth grew 7.3 percent to $175,500 (117,000 pounds) per capita in 2009, which is below the $192,000 (128,000 pounds) level in 2007. The agency blamed decreasing house prices during the recession for the drop.

Those who managed to hike their household wealth during that period were baby boomers who benefited from falling house prices.

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