Reuters - The Federal Reserve may be hesitant to raise interest rates ahead of the U.S. election in November, although there is no hard evidence to support the widely held view that politics influences monetary policy.

AP - Wall Street ended a depressing week with another big loss on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 100 points amid ever-escalating worries about high oil prices and fallout from the credit crisis. The major indexes are all down more than 3 percent for the week.

Reuters - Oil prices rose to a record near $143 a barrel on Friday as a drop in global equities markets sent fresh investors into commodities.

Reuters - Stocks will start the second half of 2008 staring into the jaws of a bear market.

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve worried about exposing its balance sheet to credit risks when it launched a lending facility for top bond dealers in an emergency move in mid-March, minutes of two Fed meetings released on Friday showed.

Reuters - As the Federal Reserve and securities regulators neared an agreement on investment banks, leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Friday warned them not to get ahead of Congress with any Wall Street reforms.

Reuters - Stocks fell on Friday, pushing the Dow to the brink of a bear market, hounded by concerns that record oil prices and the seemingly endless credit crisis will further damage the economy.

AP - Wall Street pared its losses late Friday as the approaching end of the quarter had investors picking up stocks to close out their portfolios — the practice widely known as window dressing.

AFP - European stocks mostly fell on Friday as oil prices shot to record levels, but losses were less than falls on other global markets hit by soaring crude costs and a weak US economy.

Reuters - The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) of stocks slid on Friday into bear market territory as investors fretted about the impact of record oil prices and mounting credit losses in the financial sector.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve worried about exposing its balance sheet to credit risks when it launched a lending facility for top bond dealers in an emergency move in mid-March, minutes of two Fed meetings released on Friday showed.

Reuters - Stocks fell sharply on Friday, as concerns about the impact of record oil prices on the economy and fears of more credit losses in the bank sector rattled investors.