Weekly Market Wrap: October 7, 2011
Friday, October 7, 4:55 PM ET

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Hi. I'm Tracey Fitzpatrick. Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday October 7, 2011.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were higher this week, while the Nasdaq was noticeably lower.

Crude oil futures were higher this week, trading around $83.00 per barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures were higher for the week, trading around $1,635 an ounce as investors ponder about that future of the yellow metal.

In notable economic news this week, employers hired more workers than analysts had expected in September and hiring numbers for the prior two months were revised higher. The unemployment rate, however, remained at 9.1 percent. Nonfarm payrolls did increase by 103,000, but that number includes the return of 45,000 striking Verizon workers. Excluding these works, employment increased by only 58,000.

In corporate news this week, Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) said its Nook Color and Nook Simple Touch devices are now available at Target's (:TGT) store and website. The Simple Touch is available for $139, and the Color is $249. Barnes & Noble noted the devices are also available at Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Office Max (NYSE:OMX), Radio Shack (NYSE:RSH), Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT), among other retailers.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) said that Afexa Life Science's board has unanimously approved its sweetened bit to buy all outstanding shares of Afexa, for $0.85 Canadian per share. Valeant also increased its termination fee to $4.5 million Canadian from $3.75 million Canadian.

Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS) said it was awarded a contract from the U.S. government to supply 44.75 million does of its BioThrax anthrax vaccine over five years. The total value of the contract is $1.25 billion.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed suit against Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) on allegations that the firm defrauded certain clients on the rates given for foreign exchange trades. The suit alleges that the bank engaged in a 'campaign of deception' regarding the fees on foreign currency transactions it made for public and private pension funds and other financial institutions. The bank allegedly gave clients the least favorable rate of the day, made a trade with a better rate, and kept the difference. Overall, Schneiderman's office said BNY made $2 billion from the trades over 10 years. The U.S. attorney for New York also filed federal civil charges against the firm. Bank of New York Mellon has said it will challenge the suit.