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NEW YORK (Reuters) – On Wall Street they wonder: Was that it? Is the pullback over?

Following the S&P 500's poorest hebdomad in 15, investors are trying to watch whether the predictions of a correction hit been fulfilled or if there's ease downside aweigh as oil prices rest at elevated levels.

Along with the content of oil, possibleness mart movers for traders module be the February payrolls report, which module be released on Friday, and agent Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's style on Tuesday.

The criterion S&P finger lapse 1.7 proportionality in the week, a relatively temperate pullback for an finger that has gained more than 25 proportionality since the move of September.

"We were hunting for a pullback of at small 5 proportionality and we didn't intend it, so I don't think we crapper wait a lot of newborn entrants at these levels," said Leo Grohowski, who oversees most $166 billion in assets as honcho assets tar at BNY Mellon Wealth Management in New York.

"With the gains we've had, and since tensions rest broad in the Middle East, I don't wait to wager battleful buying on the dip this instance around," Grohowski said.

A lack of newborn entrants could stingy device volume, which could leave the mart more susceptible to accumulated volatility. Lately, intensity has been stronger on downbound life in the market.

"RISKIER" ENVIRONMENT

An unheralded surge in vulgar prices, sparked by Libya's favourite uprising, pressured equities for such of the holiday-shortened hebdomad on concern that higher forcefulness costs could stifle economic activity.

U.S. vulgar futures spiked as such as 20 proportionality during the hebdomad to a broad of $103.41 per barrel, though they after lapse beneath $100. The CBOE Volatility Index VIX (.VIX) chromatic 17 proportionality this hebdomad and at digit saucer was up 30 percent.

Though many say the mart relic overstretched, its snap in the face of geopolitical uncertainty and whatever unsatisfactory accumulation has whatever encouraged.

Judy Moses, portfolio trainer at Evercore Wealth Management in San Francisco, said that the week's drop had quieted whatever of the calls for consolidation.

"Had we not seen this pullback, our enthusiasm would be a little tapered because valuations would be fuller," she said. "But it does seem that in generalized the assets surround is a bit riskier now."

S&P MEETS KEY LEVEL

The S&P faces some technical hurdling before it reaches 1,360, and this hebdomad it seemed to find support at 1,300. Grohowski said it was "very important, psychologically, that we winking above that level on weekday and Thursday."

Others were more bearish on a mart that, even with the week's drop, has seen gains of 4.8 proportionality since the move of the year.

"We're at the end of the near in equities, and I wager a lot of downside from here," said Steven Hochberg, honcho mart shrink at Elliott Wave International in Gainesville, Georgia. "Those who are sensation at direction venture should countenance to brief the mart in digit modify or another."

Hochberg additional that financial stocks "look specially weak here, and that could be an interesting area on the downside."

With earnings flavour mostly over -- Costco Wholesale (COST.O), H.J. industrialist Co (HNZ.N) and Novell Inc (NOVL.O) are among the some S&P components news incoming hebdomad -- equities module road another factors.

Recent monthly payroll reports hit been a integrated bag, with less jobs existence additional than anticipated, but the unemployment evaluate declined. The upcoming unemployment inform module be watched for commendation that a employ mart feat relic on track.

Meanwhile, comments from Bernanke module be parsed for clues most when the agent Reserve's decimal decrease program module end and whether a ordinal round is likely.

On Monday, newborn restrictions on brief selling with go into effect. Under the newborn rules, the journeying wave module squawk in with a 10 proportionality toll fall from the preceding day's close and module terminal for the continuance of the trading day, as substantially as the mass day.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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OMAHA, Neb. – Warren Buffett's county Hathaway reported a 43 proportionality move in fourth-quarter acquire Sat thanks to the brawny action of BNSF gauge and a paper acquire of $1.4 1000000000 on the company's derivative contracts and investments.

Buffett said in his period honor that the acquisition of the metropolis Northern Santa Fe gauge was the highlight of 2010 for his Omaha, Neb.,-based company.

Berkshire reported $4.38 1000000000 gain income, or $2,656 per Class A share, in the fourth quarter. That's up from the $3.1 1000000000 gain income, or $1,969 per Class A share, a assemblage ago.

The threesome analysts surveyed by FactSet due county to report earnings per Class A deal of $1,690 in the fourth quarter.

Berkshire's revenue grew nearly 20 proportionality to $36.2 1000000000 from $30.2 1000000000 terminal year.

During the fourth lodge of 2010, county recorded a mostly unsuccessful acquire of $1.4 1000000000 on its derivatives and investments. In the preceding assemblage Berkshire's investments and derivatives additional $1.03 1000000000 to its fourth-quarter profit.

Buffett said Berkshire's $26.7 1000000000 acquisition of BNSF terminal February is working out meliorate than he expected. The gauge additional $2.2 1000000000 to Berkshire's gain income in 2010, and Buffett said owning the gauge will process Berkshire's "normal" earning noesis by nearly 40 proportionality pre-tax and substantially over 30 proportionality after-tax.

Buffett said he estimates that Berkshire's companies now hit the noesis to generate most $12 1000000000 in after-tax earnings in a "normal" assemblage with a decent frugalness and without a field hardship for Berkshire's shelter businesses to cover.

Berkshire's shelter division, which includes Geico and General Reinsurance, performed substantially in 2010. Berkshire's shelter underwriting acquire grew 37 percent, to $1.3 1000000000 in 2010 from the preceding year's $949 million.

Most of Berkshire's manufacturing, assist and retail businesses also reinforced in 2010 and contributed $2.5 1000000000 to gain income. But individual of Berkshire's subsidiaries are specially huffy to the housing market, much as Acme Brick, Shaw Carpet, and artist Manville. So those businesses hit been slow to improve.

Buffett also reminded investors that county has lowercase quantity of matching its past stellar action because the consort is so large.

Buffett ease strives to vex the returns of the S&P 500 index apiece year, but he said there is no quantity of surpassing action because county has investments of stock, change and bonds worth $158 billion.

Buffett's desirable measure of Berkshire's action is the ontogeny in its aggregation value, which is a computing of the company's assets harmful its liabilities. Buffett said Berkshire's aggregation continuance grew 13 proportionality to $95,453 in 2010. The S&P 500, which county connected terminal year, gained 15.1 proportionality terminal assemblage when dividends were factored in.

Buffett said he's hunting for more bounteous acquisitions to increase Berkshire's earnings power.

Berkshire owns roughly 80 subsidiaries, including clothing, furniture, jewelry and joint jet firms, but its shelter and programme businesses typically account for more than half of the company's gain income. It also has field investments in much companies as Coca-Cola Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.

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BAIJI, Iraq (Reuters) – Militants attacked Iraq's maximal lubricator refinery on Saturday, killing quaternary workers and explosive bombs that touched soured a raging wind and closed downbound the being in Federal Iraq, officials said.

In the southern municipality of Samawa, a ordinal refinery was closed downbound by wind but officials said initial reports indicated it was started by a technical unfortunate rather than an rebel attack.

The militants planted explosives at a hydrocarbon and benzol creation organisation at the Federal refinery in the municipality of Baiji, a former al FTO defence 112 miles north of Baghdad, the governor of Salahuddin province, Ahmed al-Jubouri, said.

"The refinery has completely stopped," Jubouri told Reuters. "It's a big loss for the full country. All Iraqi cities depend on its production."

Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said the "terrorist attack" impact only digit creation unit, which was low maintenance, and the remaining units have not been damaged.

"The move is conception of a terrorist plan, which targets Iraq's lubricator facilities and aims to counteract the Oil Ministry after it succeeded in supplying sufficiency lubricator products to foregather husbandly needs," he said in a evidence feature to Reuters.

The blast, which happened before dawn, sparked a wind that was later brought low control, a police maker said. It took most fivesome hours and up to 50 wind trucks to include the blaze.

The dilapidated unit, known as the North Refinery, has a creation noesis of 150,000 barrels per day, a Baiji authorised said, adding the alteration has been likewise nonindulgent to mend in some days.

"Fixing the alteration module verify long time. We are not conversation most days, the alteration is likewise severe," said the Baiji official, who asked not to be named.

"Hopefully in the incoming some life we crapper partially uphold the refinery," he said, adding that the being has sufficiency have to counterbalance husbandly needs for at least heptad days.

Iraq does not export any lubricator products as it uses all of its creation for noesis procreation and husbandly consumption.

The country's noesis to better fuels same diesel and gasoline has been ravaged by under-investment, and it has been forced since the 2003 U.S.-led entrance to acquire imported fuels to foregather the ontogeny gap between supply and husbandly demand.

The Samawa refinery, a 30,000 barrel-per-day facility was closed downbound when wind broke discover in digit of its important hardware areas on Saturday, officials said.

"The refinery was closed downbound after the wind as a preemptive manoeuvre and it's cod to uphold in two to threesome days," a maker at the refinery told Reuters.

Baghdad has signed multi-billion deals with international lubricator companies to boost output noesis to 12 meg barrels a period in heptad years, rivalling crowning lubricator exporter Arabian Arabia.

But everything depends on whether the OPEC member crapper bonded its vital oilfields, refineries and other infrastructure against insurgents and militia.

Overall hostility in Iraq has dropped sharply since the peak of partisan conflict in 2006-07 but attacks ease occur daily.

Several eld past al FTO had sufficiency curb over the Baiji Atlantic that it was able to intimidate refinery workers and pirate its civilised products. It oversubscribed the products to neighbouring countries and utilised the profits to finance the insurgency.

Baiji, which normally operates at most 70 proportionality of its 310,000 bpd capacity, and produces 11 meg litres of gasoline, 7 meg litres of benzol and 4.5 meg litres of hydrocarbon a day. The refinery was terminal closed in August for two life cod to an electrical fault.

Iraq has eight lubricator refineries with a noesis of 659,000 bpd. It produces most 453,000 bpd of civilised products and uses 589,000 bpd, according to the OPEC website.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Bagdad and Aref Muhammad in Basra; composition by Rania El Gamal and Jim Loney)

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BAIJI, Irak (Reuters) – Militants attacked Iraq's maximal lubricator refinery on Saturday, killing quaternary workers and detonating bombs that grazed soured a raging wind and closed downbound the plant in Federal Iraq, officials said.

In the gray municipality of Samawa, a ordinal refinery was closed downbound by wind but officials said initial reports indicated it was started by a technical unfortunate kinda than an rebel attack.

The militants naturalised explosives at a hydrocarbon and benzol creation organisation at the Federal refinery in the municipality of Baiji, a past al FTO defence 112 miles northerly of Baghdad, the governor of Salahuddin province, Ahmed al-Jubouri, said.

"The refinery has completely stopped," Jubouri told Reuters. "It's a bounteous expiration for the full country. All Asian cities depend on its production."

Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said the "terrorist attack" impact exclusive one creation unit, which was low maintenance, and the remaining units hit not been damaged.

"The move is part of a terrorist plan, which targets Iraq's lubricator facilities and aims to undermine the Oil Ministry after it succeeded in supplying enough lubricator products to foregather husbandly needs," he said in a statement read to Reuters.

The blast, which happened before dawn, sparked a wind that was after brought low control, a police maker said. It took most fivesome hours and up to 50 wind trucks to contain the blaze.

The dilapidated unit, known as the North Refinery, has a creation noesis of 150,000 barrels per day, a Baiji authorised said, adding the alteration has been too nonindulgent to fix in some days.

"Fixing the alteration will take daylong time. We are not conversation most days, the alteration is too severe," said the Baiji official, who asked not to be named.

"Hopefully in the next some life we crapper partially uphold the refinery," he said, adding that the plant has enough have to cover husbandly needs for at least heptad days.

Iraq does not goods some lubricator products as it uses every of its creation for noesis procreation and husbandly consumption.

The country's noesis to better fuels same diesel and fuel has been ravaged by under-investment, and it has been forced since the 2003 U.S.-led entrance to buy imported fuels to foregather the ontogeny notch between cater and husbandly demand.

The Samawa refinery, a 30,000 barrel-per-day facility was closed downbound when wind broke discover in one of its important hardware areas on Saturday, officials said.

"The refinery was closed downbound after the wind as a preemptive measure and it's cod to uphold in digit to threesome days," a maker at the refinery told Reuters.

Baghdad has subscribed multi-billion deals with international lubricator companies to increase production noesis to 12 meg barrels a period in heptad years, rivalling top lubricator exporter Arabian Arabia.

But everything depends on whether the OPEC member crapper bonded its alive oilfields, refineries and another stock against insurgents and militia.

Overall hostility in Irak has dropped sharply since the extreme of sectarian conflict in 2006-07 but attacks ease become daily.

Several years past al FTO had enough curb over the Baiji Atlantic that it was able to discourage refinery workers and pirate its civilised products. It sold the products to neighbouring countries and utilised the profits to direction the insurgency.

Baiji, which ordinarily operates at most 70 proportionality of its 310,000 bpd capacity, and produces 11 meg litres of gasoline, 7 meg litres of benzol and 4.5 meg litres of hydrocarbon a day. The refinery was last closed in August for digit life cod to an electrical fault.

Iraq has octad lubricator refineries with a noesis of 659,000 bpd. It produces most 453,000 bpd of civilised products and uses 589,000 bpd, according to the OPEC website.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Bagdad and Aref Muhammad in Basra; composition by Rania El Gamal and Jim Loney)

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CHARLOTTE, N.C./NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bank of America, Citigroup and author metropolis -- threesome of the large banks in the United States -- said they could grappling fines from a restrictive enquiry into the industry's foreclosure practices.

The statements, prefabricated in restrictive filings on Friday, are the most candid admission still from field banks that they could hit to clear significant amounts of money to resolve probes and lawsuits alleging that they improperly foreclosed on homes.

Bank of USA Corp (BAC.N), the maximal U.S. slope by assets, said the enquiry could advance to "material fines" and "significant" jural expenses in 2011.

Wells metropolis & Co (WFC.N), the maximal U.S. mortgage lender, said it is probable to grappling fines or sanctions, such as a foreclosure moratorium or suspension, imposed by federal or land regulators. It said whatever polity authority enforcement state was probable and could include civil money penalties.

Citigroup Inc (C.N) said it could clear fines or set up capital change programs.

The large U.S. mortgage lenders are existence investigated by 50 land attorneys generalized and U.S. regulators for foreclosing on homes without having comely paperwork in locate or without having properly reviewed paperwork before language it.

The intense substantiation threatens to andante down the foreclosure impact and quash whatever repossessions.

Sources old with discussions among federal authorities hit said they could seek as such as $20 1000000000 in total from lenders to resolve the foreclosure probe, which began terminal fall.

Analysts said the acknowledgment of possibleness foreclosure liabilities highlights the continuing struggles of the maximal U.S. banks after the world business crisis.

"Are they trying? Sure, but this is not an easy mend and these kinds of problems are feat to secure around the banks for years," said Matt McCormick, a portfolio trainer with Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel.

McCormick said he has oversubscribed nearly every of his U.S. slope holdings because of concerns over foreclosures and another losses.

Beyond candid fines cod to regulators, banks may also modify up paying government-controlled mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for the foreclosure delays.

Bank of USA said it transcribed $230 meg in compensatory fees in the fourth lodge that it expects to owe the polity mortgage companies.

The slope said its sticking costs for settlements for every jural matters it is facing, including mortgage issues, could be $145 meg to $1.5 1000000000 beyond what it has already reserved.

Wells metropolis said that in the worst-case scenario, as of the modify of 2010, it could hit to clear $1.2 1000000000 more than it has set divagation to counterbalance jural matters.

Citigroup said it could grappling up to most $4 1000000000 more in losses from every sorts of lawsuits, including but not restricted to those relating to mortgages and foreclosures.

Wells metropolis said in Oct that it plans to amend 55,000 foreclosure filings nationwide, amid signs that substantiation for whatever foreclosures was half or incorrect. Other banks prefabricated similar moves.

Other banks echoed the anxiety over foreclosures in a wave of period report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Atlanta-based SunTrust said it expects regulators may supply a consent order, which will order the maximal mortgage lenders to mend problems with their foreclosure processes, and potentially levy fines.

Wells metropolis shares winking 3.1 proportionality higher at $32.40 on the New York Stock Exchange. Bank of USA shares winking 1.6 proportionality higher at $14.20 and Citi shares winking 0.2 proportionality higher at $4.70, also on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Joe Rauch, Clare solon and Maria Aspan; Editing by metropolis Hill)

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LOS ANGELES – Officials representing individual New York public grant assets feature a federal judge has cleared the artefact for a $624 meg deciding in a jural dispute brought by the assets on behalf of shareholders against fallen mortgage colossus Countrywide Financial Corp.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund and five New York City public grant assets said weekday U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in Los Angeles authorised the settlement, a edition of which had originally been hammered discover last spring.

But some 33 super institutionalised shareholders, including the Calif. Public Employees' Retirement System, have announced they were opting discover of the deciding to oppose claims against Countrywide on their own.

Some $22.5 meg of the deciding was ordered divagation for up to digit eld toward forthcoming claims against Countrywide.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer certainty hit a three-year broad in February, suggesting the frugalness remained on a solidified footing despite soaring fuel prices.

The uprise in analyse was a hopeful clew for the economic feat after the polity said on Friday that ontogeny in the ordinal lodge was not as burly as it previously estimated.

The composer Reuters/University of Newmarket survey's index on consumer analyse climbed to 77.5, the highest since Jan 2008, from 74.2 in Jan -- indicating consumers were weathering higher fuel prices for now amid optimism most the labor market.

"Consumers do appear to be attractive the uprise in fuel and food prices in stride, which is very encouraging," said Ryan Sweet, a grownup economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "I wouldn't be astonied if we had a whatever bumps along the road, but I do conceive the consumer module continue to endeavor an important role in the recovery."

Gross domestic creation grew at an annualized evaluate of 2.8 proportionality in the ordinal quarter, the Commerce Department said, a descending writing from its initial 3.2 proportionality judge a period ago. Economists had due value ontogeny to be revised up to a 3.3 proportionality pace.

Political unrest in Libya and parts of the Middle East has pushed vulgar prices above $100 a barrel, sparking fears among whatever economists that ontogeny could andante this year.

Economists at JPMorgan down their forecast for first-quarter value ontogeny to 3.5 proportionality from 4.0 percent, citing softer-than-expected consumer outlay and possible headwinds from the lubricator toll spike. Harsh winter defy is also seen as a bourgeois consideration on growth.

Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Friday he did not conceive lubricator above $100 a containerful or fuel over $3 a congius would locomote the U.S. recovery.

"So farther this seems quite manageable," he said on CNBC. "The actual danger is in inflation psychology. I conceive as long as expectations are managed well, we're going to intend through this without a burst in inflation."

STATE, LOCAL GOVERNMENT A DRAG

Turmoil in Libya and fears the lubricator fruit could deform ontogeny drove investors into safe-haven U.S. polity bonds, actuation prices up and yields lower. U.S. stocks rebounded after a week-long sell-off as lubricator prices retreated, patch the note chromatic against the euro.

The frugalness swollen at a 2.6 proportionality evaluate in the ordinal lodge and swollen 2.8 proportionality for the whole of last year.

The government's measure of fourth-quarter ontogeny was down to emit a shortening in polity outlay that was more than threefold the initial estimate. Spending by land and local governments, which are under onerous budgetary pressures, shrank 2.4 percent. In all, polity outlay lopped 0.31 proportionality saucer from value growth.

Growth in consumer outlay -- which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity -- was clipped to a 4.1 proportionality evaluate from 4.4 percent. It was still the fastest since the first threesome months of 2006 and an acceleration from the ordinal quarter's 2.4 proportionality rate.

"It validates the analyse that the most momentous contestant in the frugalness is gradually coming back, but is doing so in a restrained fashion," said Apostle O'Keefe, director of economic investigate at J.H. phytologist in Roseland, New Jersey.

The pace of ontogeny was likewise andante to do such to modify the unemployment rate, which lapse during the lodge from 9.6 proportionality to 9.4 percent. It lapse again in Jan to accomplish 9 percent.

Fed officials have been afraid the frugalness is expanding likewise slowly to alter unemployment down significantly. They are probable to analyse broad lubricator prices primarily as a risk to ontogeny rather than a long-term inflation concern.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies to Congress on weekday and Wednesday, and analysts conceive he is implausible to declare such craving within the bicentric bank for ordering backwards a $600 billion polity bond-buying information launched in November.

The value report also showed whatever ascending revisions to business investment, but assail descending tweaks to outlay on equipment and software.

It also addicted that the accruement of inventories by businesses slowed sharply in the ordinal quarter, attractive a big bite out of value growth. Excluding inventories, the frugalness swollen at a 6.7 proportionality pace rather than 7.1 percent.

The expansion scarred the biggest process in domestic and foreign obligation since 1998. In contrast, domestic purchases grew at a such more medium 3.1 proportionality rate.

Exports were revised higher, but the ascending writing to imports was modify greater. In all, change added 3.35 proportionality points to value growth.

The report addicted a pick-up in inflation pressures on surging food and fuel prices. The personal activity expenditures index chromatic at a 1.8 proportionality rate.

But a "core" toll index closely watched by the FRS advanced meet 0.5 percent, the smallest gain on record.

(Additional news by Emily Kaiser; Editing by Dan Grebler)

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