Stock Averages End Flat

• NYSE down 10.87 (-0.1%) to 7,803.12
• DJIA up 22 (+0.2%) to 12,231.11
• S&P 500 up 0.5 (+0.04%) to 1,285.08
• Nasdaq down 1.5 (-0.1%) to 2,737.15

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Nikkei up 1.3%
• Hang Seng up 1.7%.
• Shanghai Composite up 1.5%.
• FTSE-100 down 0.2%.
• DAX-30 up 0.1%.

Stock averages end essentially flat Friday but end the week up 3.6%-3.8%. The lackluster performance today follows back-to-back sessions of strong advances when global markets responded favorably, though with some reserve, to European Union plans to combat regional debt problems. A mixed bag of earnings reports and mildly upbeat economic data Friday gave investors little new incentive to extend the week's strong gains.

European officials on Thursday announced a plan under which private investors will take a 50% write-down on their holdings of Greek debt, the firepower of the eurozone bailout fund will be increased to around $1.4 trillion and European banks will be recapitalized.

But analyst notes expressed some concern. Jitters still surround efforts to bolster the lending power of the European Financial Stability Facility, with more details expected in November. A credible EFSF will be crucial to convincing investors European authorities have the firepower to prevent the crisis from engulfing the eurozone's larger economies, particularly Italy, some notes say.

Commodities finished lower with gold and crude oil futures ending in red after logging strong gains yesterday.

Light, sweet crude oil for December delivery finished down 0.7% to $93.32 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was down 1.46% to $3.05 a gallon while natural gas was up 4.12% to $3.91 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, gold futures finished trading down after ending higher for five consecutive sessions. Gold for December delivery finished down 0.03% to $1,747.20 an ounce. In other metal futures, silver was up 0.15% to $35.16 a troy ounce while copper was down 0.14% to $3.68.

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.02% to $75.02.

In economic data released this morning, the October Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment Index rose to 60.9 compared with a preliminary reading of 57.5. Economists had expected a modest gain to 58, according to a MarketWatch poll.

As for company movers:

Exxon Mobil (XOM) fell as a unit of the U.S. oil major awarded two engineering contracts to construct floating storage and offloading facilities at the unit's loading facilities at Indonesia's Banyu Urip field, according to media reports.

Goldman Sachs (GS) firmed as the company said Michele Burns, executive at Marsh & McLennan Cos, will join the board of directors at Goldman Sachs (GS). That increases the size of Goldman's Board to 12.

Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) were near the flatline while the theflyonthewall.com notes that the computer maker will spend $900 million on retail store facilities. Also, Apple will spend $7.1 billion on "product tooling and manufacturing process equipment, and corporate facilities and infrastructure," the article notes, citing the company's 10-K filing.

Pfizer (PFE) shares near flat while the company said it completed its acquisition of Icagen. Icagen is now part of Pfizer's Worldwide Research and Development organization, and will be integrated into Neusentis, Pfizer's Research Unit encompassing Pain, Sensory Disorders and Regenerative Medicine.

Shares of Google (GOOG) fell as media reports say the Internet company is renewing its effort to produce Google TV, a service that combines the Web with television. Improvements to the service include a redesigned interface, better look for services like YouTube and the opening of the Android Market, according to a Financial Times report on the matter.

Chevron (CVX) gained after its Q3 revenue missed estimates. The company reported Q3 EPS of $3.92, higher than analyst estimates for $3.44. Revenue increased 26.2% from the prior-year period to $64.4 billion, which is lower than the consensus of $67.93 billion.

Merck (MRK) firmed. The drug maker reported Q3 EPS of $0.94 per share and sales of $12.02 bln, both better than the analyst consensus of $0.91 per share in earnings on revenue of $11.61 bln on Thomson Reuters.

Aon (AON) fell after reporting Q3 EPS of $0.69, missing estimates of $0.73. Revenue rose 51.2% from the previous year period to $2.72 bln, beating the consensus of $2.66 bln.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) AMD upgraded; continues evening gain that followed earnings beat.

(+) BIDU continues evening gain that followed earnings beat.

(+) BIIB beats with Q3.

(+) RATE results up sharply vs year ago.

(+) PEP initiated with Buy rating.

(+) DECK easily beat Q3 expectations, off best evening levels.

(+) BRCD reportedly being shopped to private equity.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) YHOO dips as company uncertainy debated anew.

(-) PMCS downgraded; issued mixed results in after-hours.

(-) WHR misses with Q3, cuts outlook, cutting jobs.

(-) PPC swings to loss that misses.

(-) MF debt downgraded.

(-) ERTS continues evening drop that followed mixed guidance.

(-) ED downgraded.

(-) KO initiated with Buy rating.