A week dominated by Washington’s efforts to end the year-long recession failed to translate into anything positive for Wall Street as the Dow tumbled to fresh 2009 lows on Friday. 

Today’s Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82.35 points, or 1.04%, to 7850.41, the S&P 500 lost 8.35 points, or 1.00%, to 826.84 and the Nasdaq Composite sank 7.35 points, or 0.48%, to 1534.36. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 declined 6.81 points, or 1.10%, to 613.41.

It was an ugly week for Wall Street as the Dow lost 430 points, its fifth weekly decline of the past six. The Dow ended less than 300 points away from its 5 ½-year closing low of 7,552, which was set last November. As recently as October 2007 the benchmark index traded above the 14,000 level.

The week started with much promise as stocks had been on a hot streak on hopes a massive economic stimulus package and financial rescue plan would help stop the nation's economic bleeding. Instead, the markets sold off on a lack of specifics on how the Obama Administration will help banks rid themselves of their toxic assets. 

“In the short term, I think we’re just holding on for the ride and waiting for details about” the administration’s bailout plan, said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities.

Friday was no different as the markets saw very light trading volume and failed to rally around the House's passage of a $787 billion stimulus package and the White House's announcement that President Barack Obama will unveil details of a mortgage foreclosure plan on Wednesday. 

By the end of the day, almost all 30 components of the Dow settled in the red, led by General Motors (GM), Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM). On the other hand, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), United Technologies (UTX) and Boeing (BA) rose modestly. The benchmark index is off more than 7% in 2009, building on last year’s 34% plunge.

Apparently the recession was enough to stop Wall Street's recent history of rallying on Friday the 13th. In the 29 other occurrences of Friday the 13th since 1990, the S&P 500 had gained an average of 0.37%, according to Schaeffer’s Investment Research. That compares to gains of just 0.01% on a typical Friday and 0.02% on an average day over that span. 

Financial stocks stood in the way of a rally as the sector slumped almost 4%, led down by regional banks like Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) and PNC Financial Services (PNC).

The markets weighed down by a new report that showed consumer sentiment unexpectedly tumbled at the beginning of February to the lowest level since November. The University of Michigan/Reuters preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 56.2, well below estimates for a 61 reading.

Friday’s earnings schedule was light as PepsiCo (PEP) reported in-line results and teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) disclosed better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives approved the Obama Administration's $787 billion economic stimulus package by a vote of 246-163, but not one Republican voted in favor of the plan. Lawmakers have said the package, which is down roughly $50 billion from previous versions, will create 3.5 million jobs. The Senate could vote on the bill as early as Friday, potentially sending one of the biggest recovery plans since the New Deal to President Obama's desk by his Monday deadline.

In the commodity markets, crude oil futures ended their five-day losing streak by surging 10.4%, the biggest one-day rally since New Year's Eve. The price of a barrel of crude settled at $37.51, up $3.53. Still, crude oil prices fell 6.6% this week, the third straight weekly decline. 

Gold futures rose for the first time in four days, ending at $941.50 per ounce, up $7 on the day. The commodity ended just 6% away from its March 2008 all-time high. 

Corporate Movers

Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) moved closer to a deal with satellite mogul Charles Ergen over a deal to avoid bankruptcy but remains in talks over a rival deal with Liberty Media (LMDIA), The Wall Street Journal reported. Ergen would allow Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin to stay on the job but would take control of the company by injecting $500 million and letting it restructure its debt, the newspaper reported.

PepsiCo (PEP) suffered a 43% drop in fourth-quarter net income but the beverage giant’s adjusted-profit of 88 cents per share matched estimates.

Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) unveiled foreclosure moratoriums ahead of an expected Obama loan modification plan.

Microsoft (MSFT) plans to take on rival Apple (AAPL) by opening its own chain of stores. It’s not clear how many or where the stores will be located but the software giant hired former DreamWorks Animation (DWA) exec David Porter to head the project.

Lloyds Banking (LYG) lost almost one-third of its market value after the British lender said its HBOS subsidiary lost $12.28 billion last year

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) beat the Street with an adjusted-profit of $1.10 in the fourth quarter even as revenue slumped 19% to $998 million. Citing the economic uncertainty, the teen retailer did not issue a fiscal 2009 forecast.

General Growth Properties (GGP) remains in talks with lenders to renegotiate a $900 million loan on two Las Vegas malls that passed late Thursday without a new agreement, the Journal reported.

Nabors Industries (NBR) warned of a fourth-quarter loss thanks to $405 million in writedowns but the land-drilling oil contractor sees earnings in-line or slightly below estimates.

Facebook may not be worth $15 billion as Microsoft’s (MSFT) $240 million investment implied. Two separate appraisals valued the social-networking site at $3.7 billion, or 75% less than the value given following the Microsoft deal, the New York Post reported.

Global Markets

European markets ended in the green as the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.60% to 2228.29, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.30% to 4189.59 and Germany's DAX rallied 0.13% to 4413.39. Even with the gains, the indexes ended in the red for the week, snapping two-week winning streaks. 

Asian markets closed in the green overnight as Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.96% to 7779.40 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.47% to 13554.67. Australia's ASX 200 gained 1.27% to 3559.10.