Business Highlights

Wall Street finished a turbulent week with another huge drop Friday after major banks warned of further losses on their debt portfolios, raising investor concerns that the credit market slump shows no sign of abating.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 220 points.

Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp. all said the ongoing credit crisis will cause another round of heavy losses during the fourth quarter.

Financial institutions took big hits during the third quarter as losses from subprime mortgages hurt their balance sheets, and these three companies were just the latest to report bad news that sent stocks lower.

Also Friday, financial services provider ETrade Financial said it expects the value of its asset-backed securities to continue to drop in value, while credit card leader Capital One Financial Corp. reported an increase in October loan charge-offs and delinquencies.

___

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Merck & Co. said Friday it will pay $4.85 billion to end thousands of state and federal lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx in one of the largest drug settlements ever.

Company officials estimated the deal, if accepted, would end 45,000 to 50,000 personal injury lawsuits involving U.S. Vioxx users who suffered a heart attack or ischemic stroke, the type in which blood flow to the brain is blocked.

Merck executive vice president Kenneth Frazier called the agreement "responsible and reasonable" and allows Merck to better quantify its liability, once estimated as high as $50 billion.

___

WASHINGTON (AP) — A falling dollar boosted U.S. exports to record highs, pushing the trade deficit down to its lowest level in 28 months.

The trade gap with China, however, worsened as retailers brushed aside worries about a string of high-profile recalls to stock their shelves with Chinese imports for holiday shoppers.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that the trade deficit dipped 0.6 percent in September to $56.5 billion, the smallest imbalance since May 2005.

___

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer confidence plunged in early November to the lowest level since Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast and sent oil prices soaring in 2005.

The RBC Cash Index showed consumer confidence fell to a reading of 64 this month, down sharply from an early October reading of 80.6, when consumer sentiment was on the upswing as the stock market stabilized temporarily following a turbulent August.

However, renewed market turbulence, oil prices threatening to hit $100 a barrel and a continued steep slump in housing combined to jolt consumer confidence in the latest survey done by the international polling firm Ipsos.

___

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fannie Mae's third-quarter loss more than doubled to $1.4 billion, the mortgage finance company said Friday, while forecasting industry troubles through 2008 because of mounting home loan delinquencies.

Shares of Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. buyer and backer of home loans, recovered from a decline of more than 9 percent early in the day to finish at $49, a decrease of 80 cents, or 1.6 percent.

___

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices ended slightly higher Friday as markets took a breather ahead of options trading next week that's expected to trigger a run at $100 a barrel.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 86 cents to settle at $96.32 a barrel in New York, after hitting an earlier high of $96.65.

On Thursday, the contract fell 91 cents to settle at $95.46 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the housing slump and high oil prices will slow economic growth in coming months.

___

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven more U.S. children became sick after ingesting Chinese-made toy beads that were recalled earlier this week because of a toxic chemical coating, the government said Friday.

The reports of the sickened children, six of whom were hospitalized, came from at least five states: Texas, Delaware, New Hampshire, Illinois and Utah, according to a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The agency recalled the Spin Master Aqua Dots toy Wednesday after two children were knocked unconscious, and then hospitalized, by eating beads covered with a chemical that metabolizes into the compound gamma hydroxy butyrate — the so-called date-rape drug.

___

NEW YORK (AP) — Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. on Friday said they have canceled their plan to combine the high-speed wireless networks they are building.

The breakup is a blow to the much smaller Clearwire, which already has a network in some parts of the country based on the WiMax technology. Sprint's buildout, using the same technology, would have complemented Clearwire's coverage.

Shares of Clearwire fell $4.54, or 25 percent, to close at $13.49 after sliding as low as $13.03, an all-time low. The Kirkland, Wash., company founded by wireless pioneer Craig McCaw went public in March at $25 a share.

___

By The Associated Press

The Dow Jones industrials fell 223.55, or 1.69 percent, to 13,042.74. The blue chip index is down 1,155.35 points, or 8.14 percent, since its trading high of 14,198.09, reached in August.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was off 21.07, or 1.43 percent, at 1,453.70, while the Nasdaq composite index tumbled 68.06, or 2.52 percent, to 2,627.94.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 86 cents to settle at $96.32 a barrel in New York, after hitting an earlier high of $96.65.

In London, Brent crude rose 39 cents to settle at $93.18 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Heating oil futures rose 1.3 cent Friday to settle at $2.6188 a gallon on the Nymex, while natural gas futures rose 18.4 cents to $7.897 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gasoline prices climbed 1.84 cent to settle at $2.4560 a gallon.