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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Initial public offerings from Halliburton's KBR unit and media giant Bertelsmann appeared on the horizon Friday as the 2006 IPO market ramps up, with as many as 15 deals on the calendar for next week.   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS U.S. stocks rally, buoyed by Microsoft, P&G results U.S. Dec. new home sales rise 2.9% U.S. GDP slows to 1.1% annual  ...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The FTSE 100 hit its highest level Friday since June 2001, with rising crude lifting oil majors and as M&A activity offered support. The FTSE 100 indexadded 0.8% at 5,771. Port operator Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.added 4% to 543 pence after the board recommended a bid of 520 pence a share from Dubai's DP World. That trumped a 470p bid, which P&amp ...

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- A defensive posture on Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s part could turn into a big score for Target Corp., prompting one analyst to take different routes on stock ratings for those companies. EARNINGSWATCH CORRECT: UST sales slip on slump in snuff Analyst gives thumbs up to Target, down to Wal-Mart Gannett profit declines 9.2% as political ads dry up YRC Worldwid ...

By Pete Harrison LONDON (Reuters) - Online gaming company PartyGaming (PRTY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it had signed a record number of new poker players in the fourth quarter and was on track to become the world's biggest online casino. The operator of the PartyPoker Web site, the world's biggest online poker room, said group sales rose 65 percent to $320 million (180 million pounds) in the fourth quarter, prompting analysts to upgrade their full-year forecasts. But after j ...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The FTSE 100 hit its highest level Friday since June 2001, with rising crude lifting oil majors and as M&A activity offered support. document.write(''); EARNINGSWATCH Microsoft shares gain in wake of results NBTY shares gain on 1Q earnings report Chevron earnings rise 21%, but fall short of forecast Oil stocks rally holds at midday Free! Sign up h ...

BOSTON (Dow Jones) -- T. Rowe Price Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit gained by 21%, the company reported Friday, as higher advisory revenue helped the money manager top analyst estimates. The Baltimore-based company (TROW) said quarterly earnings rose to $117.5 million, or 85 cents a share, compared with $97.1 million, or 71 cents, earned in the same period a year earlier. Total revenue reach ...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Already considered the world's third-richest man, Lakshmi Mittal padded that total by more than $200 million with his company's offer to buy Arcelor for $22.7 billion.   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS U.S. stocks rally, buoyed by Microsoft, P&G results U.S. Dec. new home sales rise 2.9% U.S. GDP slows to 1.1% annual rate in fourth quarter Pfizer retra ...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- XTO Energy said it expects 2006 production to increase 10% to 12% by spending $17 billion on exploration and development.   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS U.S. stocks rally, buoyed by Microsoft, P&G results U.S. Dec. new home sales rise 2.9% U.S. GDP slows to 1.1% annual rate in fourth quarter Pfizer retracts CEO's report that FDA cleared Exubera  ...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The major indexes of U.S. financial stocks mostly recovered from earlier losses Friday after news revealing that the U.S. economy slowed dramatically during the fourth quarter initially weakened them.  FINANCIAL ETFs SymbolFund NameLast Price% Daily Return XLF Sel Sector:Finl S SPDR 32.18 +0.12% IYF iShares:Dow US Fnl Sct 103.36 +0.42% I ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Growth in the U.S. economy slowed dramatically to a 1.1% annual rate in the fourth quarter, the weakest growth in three years, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. The slowdown in real gross domestic product from 4.1% in the third quarter to 1.1% in the fourth was largely due to weak auto sales, slower business investment, a rise in imports and a large drop in fed ...