WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that Congress is "open to be helpful" to the Big Three U.S. automakers but pressed them to submit detailed plans in exchange for aid. "I'm very optimistic and hopeful that they've gotten the message" that they need to give Congress plans about how to compete and innovate before lawmakers approve loans, Pelosi told reporters on Friday. She spoke a day after efforts to help Ford Motor Co. , General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC fell apart on Capitol Hill. They now have until Dec. 2 to submit turn-around plans.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that Congress is "open to be helpful" to the Big Three U.S. automakers but pressed them to submit detailed plans in exchange for aid. "I'm very optimistic and hopeful that they've gotten the message" that they need to give Congress plans about how to compete and innovate before lawmakers approve loans, Pelosi told reporters on Friday. She spoke a day after efforts to help Ford Motor Co. , General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC fell apart on Capitol Hill. They now have until Dec. 2 to submit turn-around plans.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The National Bank of Poland said Friday it has reached an agreement with the European Central Bank to borrow up to 10 billion euros, or $12.6 billion. The liquidity facility, which was agreed on Nov. 6, relates to repurchase transactions and aims to "provide additional support to the NBP's operations," the two central banks said in a statement.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The National Bank of Poland said Friday it has reached an agreement with the European Central Bank to borrow up to 10 billion euros, or $12.6 billion. The liquidity facility, which was agreed on Nov. 6, relates to repurchase transactions and aims to "provide additional support to the NBP's operations," the two central banks said in a statement.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pirates in Somalia named a price of $25 million for the return of the Saudi Arabia-owned super tanker the Sirius Star, which was taken from a shipping lane in the Indian Ocean more than 400 miles off the African coast last week. "What we want for this ship is only $25 million because we always charge according to the quality of the ship and the value of the product,'' a man who identified himself as Abdi Salan, a member of the hijacking gang, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pirates in Somalia named a price of $25 million for the return of the Saudi Arabia-owned super tanker the Sirius Star, which was taken from a shipping lane in the Indian Ocean more than 400 miles off the African coast last week. "What we want for this ship is only $25 million because we always charge according to the quality of the ship and the value of the product,'' a man who identified himself as Abdi Salan, a member of the hijacking gang, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- International Paper said Friday it will indefinitely close its Louisiana Mill in Bastrop, Texas due to a continuing decline in pulp demand coupled with a weak economy. The closure will reduce the company's annual pulp production capacity by about 450,000 tons. About 550 employees will be affected.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Delta Air Lines said Friday it expects consolidated revenue per available seat mile to be up 2% to 4% from a year ago in the fourth quarter. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Atlanta carrier expects total system seat capacity to be down 4% from last year, with domestic capacity declining 12% and international capacity up 9%. Demand is down for the quarter, with domestic bookings running about 2 points higher from last year because of capacity cuts. International bookings are down 4 to 5 points, the airline said. Delta, which recently acquired Northwest, said it was evaluating capacity plans for 2009, and expects to reduce further. Shares of Delta were down almost 3% to $6.82.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Delta Air Lines said Friday it expects consolidated revenue per available seat mile to be up 2% to 4% from a year ago in the fourth quarter. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Atlanta carrier expects total system seat capacity to be down 4% from last year, with domestic capacity declining 12% and international capacity up 9%. Demand is down for the quarter, with domestic bookings running about 2 points higher from last year because of capacity cuts. International bookings are down 4 to 5 points, the airline said. Delta, which recently acquired Northwest, said it was evaluating capacity plans for 2009, and expects to reduce further. Shares of Delta were down almost 3% to $6.82.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service on Friday affirmed Prudential Financial Inc.'s senior debt rating of A3 but lowered its outlook to negative from stable. The change reflects the pressures on its profitability and capital adequacy from depressed equity markets and investment losses as well as diminished financial flexibility and liquidity at its holding company, Moody's said.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economic weakness could last for most of 2009, said Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank on Friday. "We are likely in for a protracted period of poor economic performance," Evans said in a speech in Indianapolis. Economic indicators over the last few weeks have been surprisingly weak, he said. The government's $700 billion financial market rescue package and liquidity steps taken by the Fed should help unlock bank lending, but "it could take some time before financial markets function in a manner that does not impinge on the activities of businesses and households," Evans said.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economic weakness could last for most of 2009, said Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank on Friday. "We are likely in for a protracted period of poor economic performance," Evans said in a speech in Indianapolis. Economic indicators over the last few weeks have been surprisingly weak, he said. The government's $700 billion financial market rescue package and liquidity steps taken by the Fed should help unlock bank lending, but "it could take some time before financial markets function in a manner that does not impinge on the activities of businesses and households," Evans said.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures surged Friday, briefly topping $800 an ounce for the first time in more than a month, as wary investors returned to the safety of the precious metal. Gold for December delivery rallied $43.10, or 5.8%, to end at $791.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped 7.1% to $801.90 earlier, rising to above $800 for the first time since Oct. 16. The benchmark contract ended the week up 6.6%, the biggest weekly percentage gain since the week ended Sept. 19.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures surged Friday, briefly topping $800 an ounce for the first time in more than a month, as wary investors returned to the safety of the precious metal. Gold for December delivery rallied $43.10, or 5.8%, to end at $791.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped 7.1% to $801.90 earlier, rising to above $800 for the first time since Oct. 16. The benchmark contract ended the week up 6.6%, the biggest weekly percentage gain since the week ended Sept. 19.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Donaldson Co. said Friday its board raised the quarterly dividend by 5% to 11.5 cents per share, to be paid Dec. 19 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 5. As of Oct. 31, there were about 76.9 million shares outstanding.

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