ECONOMY & MARKETS

First, Mitt Romney gaffed in admitting he was not worried about the very poor. Then, he admitted he only paid about a 15 percent tax rate. Now, his ad-libbing in Detroit led him to a flub about his wife Ann's Cadillacs.

The prices of gasoline and other energy commodities are on the rise -- with further increases just over the horizon -- and it appears that everyone is taking notice.

Borrowing by U.S. companies to buy equipment jumped in January from a year ago, though it slid from December's rush to close loans before year-end, and credit quality improved to pre-recession levels, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association said on Friday.

Arizona and Florida were ground zero for the housing boom and subsequent crash, but the multifamily sector is finally showing signs of life, with developers again planning new projects.

The S&P 500 rose on Friday to close at the highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, continuing a pattern of steady gains on signs of U.S. economic recovery.

Some descriptions of Mitt Romney's auto bailout position from former Obama car czar Steven Rattner: dead wrong, utter fantasy, has delusions, and hasn't felt a need to be consistent.

No matter which direction investors faced Friday, whether it was the recent past or the immediate future, all the signals were positive. Investors responded by boosting prices for stocks, bonds and commodities.

Congressional Republicans are taking a second look at a controversial transportation bill that would reduce funding for mass transit throughout the U.S.

Buoyed by another round of better-than-expected economic data, the Standard & Poor's 500 advanced above its highest close since June 2008. Optimism on the economy also lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above 13,000.

The recent U.S. housing bubble and resulting severe recession discouraged an entire generation of potential home buyers, who see ownership of a residence as far riskier than preceding generations did, a top U.S. central banker said Friday.

A closely watched index of U.S. consumer sentiment narrowly beat market expectations Friday morning, as the continuing optimism about where the economy is going was reflected in the data.

HSBC Global Connections is bullish on international business and sees some hot ideas for U.S. exporters for 2012 and beyond.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) opened its fourth automobile assembly plant Friday in China, as it seeks to expand its presence in the country.

Housing, the weakest of the three legs of the stool supporting the U.S. economy, is finally firming up, or so it seems to investors, economists, real estate agents and buildings after a string of heartening reports so far this year.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open for equities on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent.

Citigroup sold its stake in Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) for $1.9 billion, as global banks focus on shoring up their balance sheets to meet stricter capital requirements.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Thursday were: Casual Male Retail Group, Internap Network Services, OmniVision Technologies, Iconix Brand Group, AXT Inc, Warner Chilcott, Intuit Inc, Dynamic Materials Corp, Sigma Designs and Clearwire Corp.

The top after-market NASDAQ loser Thursday were: Rubicon Technology, Crocs, Deckers Outdoor Corp, Celldex Therapeutics, Grand Canyon Education, MercadoLibre, PLX Technology, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, UTi Worldwide and Century Aluminum.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Thursday were: Kindred Healthcare, Greenhill, Exterran Holdings, Ventas, WPX Energy, Youku, EXCO Resources, CryoLife and Office Depot.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Thursday were: Salesforce.com, 3D Systems Corp, American International Group, Magna International, Pacific Drilling, American Equity Investment, Rackspace Hosting and Suntech Power Holdings.

Lloyds, 40 per cent owned by the government after a state bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, reported on Friday an annual loss of 3.54 billion pounds, having made a profit of 281 million in 2010.

Citigroup Inc. exited investment in India's Housing Development Finance Corp. for $1.9 billion resulting in a pre-tax gain to it of $1.1 billion and an after-tax gain of approximately $722 million.

The Bank of America Thursday said that it would no longer provide new mortgages to Fannie Mae following the escalation of disagreement over who should be bearing the cost for defective mortgages.

Shares of American International Group Inc. rose 6 percent in after hours trade on Thursday after it announced that the fourth-quarter profit jumped 77 percent, fueled by a tax benefit and an increase in the value of a stake in Asian insurer AIA Group Ltd .

Procter & Gamble, the consumer products maker, said on Thursday it would eliminate 5,700 jobs over the next year and a half as the company unveiled a plan to cut $10 billion in costs over the next four years.

Sears Holdings Corp posted a large fourth-quarter net loss of $2.40 billion compared with $374 million profit last year resulting in its statement that it would sell or spin off many of its stores to boost liquidity.

Asian shares crept higher Friday as solid U.S. data improved sentiment, but gains may be limited by concerns that rising oil prices could deal a further blow to the fragile euro zone economy and moves to take profits after recent rallies.

Lloyds will bear brunt of writedowns and restructuring costs, as it sells non-core businesses and cuts thousands of jobs.

Japan's Nikkei share average extended its rally and rose to a 6-1/2-month high on Friday above 9,600, heading for its best February performance in two decades.