Stocks tumbled Friday, giving back all of the gains from the prior session, as worries about the recovery escalated after a pair of reports on the consumer and as the dollar rallied. The Dow shed 250 points, or 2.5 percent, but finished flat for the month.

Stocks tumbled Friday, giving back all of the gains from the prior session, as worries about the recovery escalated after a pair of reports on the consumer.

Stocks opened lower Friday after reports showed consumer sentiment and spending have declined.

Duke Energy reported Friday that sales to industrial customers has begun to stabilize, another signal that better economic conditions have led to growing power consumption.

Futures indicated a lower open for Wall Street on Friday, the last trading day of October, after the Dow experienced its best day in 3 months Thursday after GDP data showed the world's biggest economy exited recession in the third quarter.

Oil prices fell nearly 4 percent Friday, pressured by bearish economic data that dented confidence about a potential recovery in energy demand.

Top Asian oil refiner Sinopec Corp said its refining margins fell by nearly half in the third quarter, but forecast "normal growth" as it banks on China to provide relief by raising fuel prices.

ExxonMobil on Thursday said its quarterly profit fell 68 percent, missing Wall Street estimates, as the global recession bit into fuel demand and crude oil prices fell from year-ago levels.

Royal Dutch Shell said third quarter net profit fell 73 percent, hit by falling oil and gas prices and refining margins, and Chief Executive Peter Voser warned of a slow recovery.

Swiss engineering group ABB stuck to its cautious outlook for the rest of the year and 2010 as third-quarter orders slumped 21 percent.

Oil rose more than 3 percent Thursday after news that the U.S. economy returned to growth in the third quarter, reviving expectations of an increase in fuel consumption.

The hopeful mood that accompanied the start of President Obama's term has given way to deepening concern about the nation’s economic troubles, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

A bill that would give the Obama administration power to impose sanctions on a broad array of companies involved in providing Iran with gasoline cleared a key congressional committee on Wednesday.

If 2008-2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2009-2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? Given events of the past two years, we all have cause for being skeptical about the investment horizon, especially after a massive, six-month rally in equities and lingering concerns about corporate profits and the economy.

While President Obama unveiled $3.4 billion worth of stimulus grants for smart grid technologies Tuesday in Florida, CNBC was in South Carolina, looking at Itron, a company that stands to reap big profits from that money.