Stocks capped the first weekly loss in more than a month amid growing speculation the Federal Reserve will reduce its bond purchases as the economy improves.

WASHINGTON — U.S. house prices rose 7.2 percent in the year through March, the biggest gain since May 2006, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said.

Major stock indexes closed out their first weekly loss in a month in quiet trading Friday.

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. are reworking their strategies for high-end TVs after spending billions of dollars on a new display technology that’s behind schedule and costs almost $10,000 a set.

BOSTON — Municipal bonds continue to provide a reliable refuge from stock market volatility and a steady source of tax-free income.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Sears Holdings Corp. fell the most in six months after posting a $279 million first-quarter loss that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edward Lampert said he needs to reverse to transform the department-store chain.

NEW YORK CITY — Gary Delgado learned last week from a note slipped under his door that the rent for his two-bedroom apartment at Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Town will jump by $920 to $4,220 a month in July.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display- advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Salesforce.com Inc., the largest maker of online customer-management tools, forecast profit for the fiscal second quarter that missed some analysts’ estimates as companies curtail spending on new business software.

The price of oil fell 2 percent this week, as oil traders worried about global demand and shared the stock market's concerns about possible changes to the Federal Reserve economic stimulus program.

News Corp. said its board of directors has approved plans to split its entertainment and publishing businesses into two separate companies. The company also adopted a shareholder-rights plan designed to prevent a hostile takeover in the volatile trading period after the split is complete.

Will gamers want One?

New Jersey used a record-breaking gesture Friday to celebrate its recovery from a record-setting storm, proclaiming to the nation that the Jersey shore is back in business following Superstorm Sandy.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Orders for U.S. durable goods increased more than forecast in April, pointing to gains in business investment that will help manufacturing rebound in the second half of the year.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures pared losses after data showed orders for durable goods increased more than forecast in April, pointing to gains in business investment that will help economic growth.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- West Texas Intermediate headed for its biggest weekly drop in more than a month amid signs of rising U.S. oil inventories and a global economic slowdown.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Gold was little changed in New York as it headed for the biggest weekly increase in a month with investors weighing speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain its record stimulus against lower bullion holdings.

A truck hauling an oversized load struck an overhead bridge girder on the major interstate between Seattle and Canada, sending a section of the span and two vehicles into the Skagit River below. All three occupants suffered only minor injuries.

Abercrombie & Fitch became the latest retailer to release a disappointing outlook and shares tumbled more than 8 percent before the opening bell Friday after the company posted first-quarter earnings.

Wynn Resorts kept a suite open all year at its tony Las Vegas hotel and casino for founder and CEO Steve Wynn, at a cost of nearly $452,000.

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- Technology companies, including Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp., have failed at almost every turn in their quest to persuade federal lawmakers to let them hire more foreign-born workers.

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Call it Elon Unchained.

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- Any lament that U.S. executives are sitting on a record $1.73 trillion at their companies instead of investing in plants and equipment may be about to get louder.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- National Bank of Canada, the country’s sixth-largest lender, raised its dividend by 4.8 percent as it posted record second-quarter adjusted profit on consumer-lending growth.

China has agreed to give U.S. regulators access to audit records for Chinese companies whose shares trade on U.S. stock exchanges, a step forward in a long-running dispute.

Manchester United says it has refinanced more than $290 million of high-interest debt, cutting the club's interest costs by around $15 million a year.

While a resurgent Gap's first-quarter profit topped Wall Street's expectations, the retailer's backing of a full-year earnings outlook that remains below analysts' estimates pressured its stock on Friday.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae is snatching potential profits away from mortgage lenders as it posts record earnings that are fueling industry concern the government-backed company is regaining its swagger even as lawmakers plot its demise.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., maker of the Android operating system, is considering buying map-software provider Waze Inc., setting up a possible bidding war with Facebook Inc., people familiar with the matter said.

Netflix is hoping this weekend's release of the resurrected TV series “Arrested Development” will draw more subscribers to its Internet video service.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Edward Lampert, the hedge-fund manager who took over as chief executive officer of Sears Holdings Corp. this year, saw the value of his controlling stake fall $467 million today after a first-quarter loss at the retailer prompted the biggest stock decline in six months.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- KKR & Co. and Silver Lake Management LLC are vying with Yahoo! Inc. to acquire Hulu LLC, escalating a bidding war that has attracted cable and satellite TV, private equity, a talent agency and media mogul Peter Chernin.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- IP Commerce Inc., a startup backed by Venrock Inc. and Intel Corp.’s venture-capital arm, is shutting its key business, which handles credit-card processing for companies including Groupon Inc., citing competition.

Household products giant Procter & Gamble Co. is hoping its former CEO can work his magic once again.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The euro strengthened for a second day against the dollar after an industry report showed German business confidence unexpectedly increased in May, adding to optimism the region’s biggest economy is improving.

InterOil and Pacific LNG Group are in exclusive talks with Exxon Mobil about the development of natural gas fields in Papua New Guinea.

Stock futures are sinking and it appears major U.S. indexes are heading for a down week roiled by corporate earnings, good and bad, and confusion about what the Fed will do next.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries headed for a fourth weekly decline as a government report showed durable goods orders rose more than forecast in April, backing the case for the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of bond buying.

U.S. orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rebounded in April, buoyed by more demand for aircraft and stronger business investment. The gains suggest economic growth may be holding steady this spring.

The Internal Revenue Service official who led the unit that targeted tea party groups and publicly disclosed the activity has been replaced, making her the third top IRS official moved aside since the episode was revealed two weeks ago.

It's a common sight on the nation's beaches: among the sand, sea foam and gnarled kelp lay plastic bottles, bags and other garbage.

Shares of Aveo Oncology sank Friday after the company said its partner Astellas won't ask European Union regulators to approve their kidney cancer pill tivozanib.

Noodles & Co. has made a regulatory filing for a proposed initial public offering of Class A common stock.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- West Texas Intermediate crude fell, heading for its biggest weekly drop in more than a month, after rising U.S. durable goods orders bolstered concern that the Federal Reserve will scale back stimulus efforts.

World stocks edged lower on Friday, a day after markets around the world dropped sharply on concerns global growth is slowing and the Federal Reserve could start scaling back its monetary stimulus.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- News Corp., set to split in two this June, announced a new slate of board members for each company as well as a $500 million stock repurchasing fund for the publishing business.

Procter & Gamble shares approached their all-time high on Friday after the world's largest consumer goods maker said current CEO Bob McDonald is retiring and his predecessor A.G. Lafley was taking back the top spot.

Foot Locker Inc. said Friday that its first-quarter net income rose 8 percent, helped by higher sales at its established stores. The earnings beat Wall Street expectations, while revenue matched predictions.

Destination XL Group Inc.'s fiscal first-quarter net income dropped 57 percent as the men's clothing and accessories company contended with a chilly spring and higher expenses.

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Pandora Media Inc., the biggest online radio service, surged as much as 13 percent after reporting quarterly mobile revenue that almost doubled while controlling expenses.

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A top North Korean envoy delivered a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and told him Pyongyang would take steps to rejoin stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, in an apparent victory for Beijing's efforts to coax its unruly ally into lowering tensions.

After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time, but heated reactions from the left and right made clear that the BSA's controversies are far from over.

MOORE, Okla. (AP) _ After living nearly 20 years in their one-story brick home, Sherry and Larry Wells finally won the lottery -- for a state rebate on a home storm shelter, that is. A contractor finished installing the concrete bunker beneath the slab of their garage in early May. About three weeks later, the shelter saved their lives when a tornado that killed 24 people tore through their neighborhood.

The forecast for summer travel, 2013: Partly sunny.

Few have explored the remote volcanic islands of the Galapagos archipelago, an otherworldly landscape inhabited by the world's largest tortoises and other fantastical creatures that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Mexico's top security official says far fewer people have disappeared during Mexico's drug war than were feared when the government released a list of about 26,000 cases.