Good News, Quarterly Earnings | featured news

Consumer spending rose in February and sentiment among Americans perked up this month, further signs of an acceleration in economic activity in the first quarter after a near stall in late 2012.

Inventories at U.S. wholesalers rise at the fastest pace this year in September, adding to evidence that 3Q growth may have been stronger than initially thought.

U.S. economic growth picked up in the third quarter as a late burst in consumer spending and a surprise turnaround in government outlays offset the first cutback in business investment in more than a year.

China posted monthly trade and money-supply data that offered a positive sign for the world's No. 2 economy ahead of what's expected to be the weakest quarterly economic growth report in more than three years.

Two of the nation's largest banks released third-quarter results that suggest the U.S. housing market, a key factor in the nation's economic performance, is bouncing back as mortgage rates hit record lows and home refinancings surge.

A decrease in the amount owed on mortgages helped drive overall U.S. consumer debt lower in the second quarter, even as Americans kept piling up student loan debt, data showed on Wednesday. Total consumer debt fell 0.5 percent to $11.38 trillion compared to the first three months of the year, the New York Fed said in its quarterly household debt and credit report.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage-finance giants, this week reported some of their best quarterly results since the real estate collapse. On Wednesday, Fannie Mae posted second-quarter net income of $5.1 billion. That is up from $2.7 billion in the first quarter of this year and an improvement from a net loss of $2.9 billion in the second quarter of last year. Fannie requested no additional money from the Treasury and said it would pay a $2.9 billion dividend to taxpayers.

The U.S. banking industry posted a $35.3-billion profit in the first quarter of the year, its best performance since 2007, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Thursday.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after an encouraging start to earnings season helped equities rebound from five days of losses that pushed the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq below key technical levels.

Wall Street closed out its strongest quarter in nearly three years Friday, leaving investors wondering if the market can continue to deliver strong gains in the weeks and months ahead.