SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Ford Motor Co. is exploring the sale of its five corporate jets, according to a media report late Friday. The online edition of The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford's decision comes after rival General Motors Corp. announced it would sell two of its five corporate jets. The moves come after lawmakers on Capitol Hill criticized executives at the U.S. auto makers for taking their corporate jets to Washington, D.C. to plead for a government bailout.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Loganville, Ga.-based The Community Bank has been closed by regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said late Friday, marking the 20th bank failure of the year amid the ongoing financial crisis. All of The Community Bank's deposits have been transferred to Tappahannock, Va.-based Bank of Essex, the FDIC said. The Community Bank had total assets of $681 million and total deposits of $611.4 million as of Oct. 17, the FDIC said.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- John Garcia, an executive in charge of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s CDMA business, is leaving the company, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition Friday. The circumstances of Garcia's departure were not clear, according to the newspaper. Sprint has tapped Keith Cowan, president of strategy and corporate development, as an interim replacement for Garcia while it searches for a successor to oversee the unit which controls 70% of Sprint's customer base, the Journal said.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's Rating Service on Friday lowered Foot Locker Inc.'s corporate credit rating to BB- from BB. "The downgrade reflects our expectations that Foot Locker will be increasingly challenged by the severe drop in consumer spending," said David Kuntz, an S&P credit analyst. The outlook is negative.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Target Corp. said late Friday that it won't pursue ideas proposed by Pershing Square, a hedge-fund firm run by activist investor Bill Ackman, regarding its real estate portfolio. Ackman had proposed that Target spin off the land it owns into a real estate investment trust in a bid to boost the company's value. But Target has concluded that the potential value created through the deals proposed by Pershing is too speculative and insufficient. "Target does not share Pershing Square's perspective that execution of this proposed transaction will generate measurable shareholder value over time and believes the risks, particularly in light of the serious challenges facing our retail and credit card segments in 2008 and 2009, are significant," said Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel in a written statement.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Cooper Industries Ltd. said late Friday it expects fourth-quarter results to be below the previous outlook of 83 cents to 92 cents a share, excluding restructuring charges. However, it did not provide more specific details on its fourth-quarter earnings. "In the near-term, we expect unprecedented volatility and are reducing production levels to ensure we manage inventory levels, while maintaining customer service. The volatility in commodity prices also is creating a difficult pricing environment in some of our businesses, which impacts margins in the near-term," said Chairman and Chief Executive Kirk Hachigian in a statement. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research is projecting the company will earn 87 cents a share on average.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Friday rallied on a report President-elect Barack Obama would nominate Timothy Geithner to be the nation's Treasury secretary. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 494.13 points, or 6.5%, to stand at 8,046.42. That still left the blue-chip index down 5.3% for the week. The S&P 500 advanced 47.59 points, or 6.3%, to 800.03, an 8.4% slide from last Friday's close. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 68.23 points, or 5.2%, to end at 1,384.35, off 8.7% for the week.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks rallied Friday afternoon after a report that President-elect Barack Obama would nominate New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner to head the Treasury Department. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 258.53 points to 7,810.82. The S&P 500 gained 23.23 points to 774.71, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 24.56 points to 1,339.68.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures ended slightly higher Friday, but posted a loss of 13% on the week. In volatile trading, crude oil for January delivery rose 51 cents to end at $49.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Globex, the January contract hit an intraday high of $51.12 a barrel.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner and former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson have all accepted posts in President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet, according to media reports. Clinton accepted the position of secretary of state, the New York Times reported. Richardson is in line to become Commerce secretary and Geithner was picked to be Treasury secretary, NBC News reported.

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