IBD's Top 10 - Friday

• Investor's Business Daily
• On 7:06 pm EST, Friday November 6, 2009

Unemployment Rises To 10.2%

1 The jobless rate broke past 10% in Oct. to the highest level since April '83, defying expectations for an uptick to 9.9%. Payrolls fell by 190,000, worse than views. But the Labor Dept. said Aug.-Sept. job cuts weren't as bad as previously thought. Unemployment is expected to keep rising into '10, bad news for holiday sales. Monthly job losses are trending lower.

Dems Scramble For Health Votes

2 House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer hinted that Dems were shy of the 218 votes need to pass the $1.2 tril overhaul but said "we're very close." A planned Sat. vote may slip to Sun. or even later. With 258 members, Dems can afford up to 40 defectors. But many moderates fretted about hefty costs, tax hikes and other provisions. Pres. Obama planned a Capitol Hill trip Sat. to lobby members.

Stocks Rise In Lower Turnover

3 The major averages opened lower on the surprisingly high unemployment figure but rallied to close up modestly. The Nasdaq rose 0.3%, led by Amazon's (NasdaqGS:AMZN - News) 5% gain on an analyst upgrade. The S&P 500 also rose 0.3%, while the NYSE composite edged up 0.1%. The Dow gained 0.2% as GE (NYSE:GE - News) climbed 6% amid upgrades. Volume fell across the board.

Oil Falls While Gold Hits $1,100

4 Dec. crude futures fell $2.19 to $77.43 a barrel after the double-digit unemployment news raised concerns about energy demand. Reports earlier in the week showed U.S. petroleum demand falling sharply. Most other commodities also fell. Meantime, Dec. gold briefly topped $1,100 as investors sought a safe haven. The precious metal closed up $6.40 at $1,095.90 an ounce.

Web Price War Extends To DVDs

5 Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT - News) upped the ante heading into the holiday season, cutting the online pre-order prices of some upcoming DVDs to $10 after last month's Web-boom price war over books. Amazon and Target (NYSE:TGT - News) then cut their own prices. That pushed the No. 1 retailer to take a few more cents off, dropping its prices down to $9.98.

Consumer Credit Shrinks Again

6 Americans cut borrowing for a record 8th straight month in Sept., as job losses continued and households pared heavy debts racked up in past years. The $14.8 bil decline was more than expected, though Aug. figures were revised to show a smaller drop. Credit-card and other revolving debt fell by $9.9 bil. Auto and similar loans sank $4.9 bil.

Base Rampage Raises Questions

7 Investigators said Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, blamed for a shooting spree at Fort Hood that killed 13 and injured 30, was ID'd as a possible security threat 6 months ago after he praised Muslim suicide bombers on a Web site. Hasan, who is Muslim, was shot 4 times but survived the attack. Hasan had gotten poor evaluations and was upset about his upcoming Afghan assignment.

Afghan Forces Fight To Find Pair

8 More than 25 NATO and Afghan troops were wounded battling terrorists while searching for 2 missing U.S. paratroopers, NATO said. The Taliban claimed the missing soldiers were dead. Meanwhile, British PM Gordon Brown warned Afghan Pres. Karzai to crack down on gov't corruption or risk a cutoff of support.

AIG Turns Profit, But Shares Fall

9 The insurer, 80% owned by the federal gov't, swung to a profit of $2.85 ex items, topping views by 87 cents thanks to investment gains. But the core insurance business struggled: Net written premiums fell 13% to $8.1 bil. AIG (NYSE:AIG - News) also said it may have trouble making a profit in Q4, citing an expected $5 bil charge. AIG has received up to $180 bil in federal aid. Its shares fell 10%.

Honduras Power Deal Collapses

10 An agreement to end a 4-month political crisis crumbled after ousted Pres. Zelaya and interim Pres. Micheletti failed to agree on a unity Cabinet. Zelaya declared the pact dead a week after it was signed and urged Hondurans to boycott elections this month. Micheletti said he would form a new gov't without him.

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