Reuters - Presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a vote of confidence to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, saying he had made some good decisions in difficult circumstances.

AP - Wall Street ended a volatile week with uneven gains Friday after better-than-expected economic data placated a market pummeled a day earlier by concerns about housing and the financial sector.

AFP - New US home sales ticked down in June, government data showed Friday, but the better-than-expected figures sparked a glint of hope that the worst housing slump in decades may be scraping bottom.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Friday as a drop in oil prices, and stronger-than-expected data on consumer sentiment and housing blunted the latest concerns about the health of U.S banks.

AP - Consumer spending is down and gas prices are up. That's bad math for the scores of destination retailers across the country that want customers to fill up the tank for a gas-guzzling day of retail therapy.

AP - After weeks of one negative report after another, the economy finally got some news Friday that wasn't half bad.

AFP - The dollar fell against the euro and yen on Friday as the market awaited publication of US housing figures and data on consumer sentiment in the world's biggest, but struggling, economy.

Reuters - Home foreclosure filings rose 14 percent in the second quarter, the eighth consecutive quarterly climb, and more than doubled from the same period a year-earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Friday.

Reuters - New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose unexpectedly in June on a surge in defense orders while a gauge of business investment was also higher than forecast in signs of economic resilience, a government report showed on Friday.