CHICAGO — Former media mogul Conrad Black was convicted Friday of swindling the far-flung Hollinger International newspaper empire he once ran out of millions of dollars, becoming the latest in a wave of disgraced corporate executives to face possible prison time for financial fraud.

Black, 62, who once renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a member of the British House of Lords, was found guilty by a federal jury of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice for spiriting documents out of his Toronto office in defiance of a court order.

Black was acquitted of nine other counts ranging from tax fraud to the most serious charge — racketeering. He was also acquitted of fleecing Hollinger shareholders through such perks as taking the corporate jet on a two-week vacation to the island of Bora Bora.

Wall Street surges higher, setting Dow, S&P record closes

NEW YORK — Wall Street ended an extraordinary and record-setting week Friday by surging higher again, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 index past a trading high set in March 2000 and thrusting the Dow Jones industrial past 13,900 for the first time.

Both the S&P and the Dow logged record closes for the second straight day and the Dow's gains put the blue chip index within about 70 points of 14,000. But the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index lagged both in Friday's session as it has in the broader recovery from the dot-com collapse at the start of the decade.

In a week that saw the Dow swing more than 450 points and rise 283 points in Thursday's session alone, investors grappled with unease over soured subprime loans and the broader economy before casting off such concerns and bidding stocks higher amid signs the consumer might yet again pull through and give Wall Street reason to climb higher.

GE reports 9.6% rise in profits, says it's getting out of U.S. mortgage business

HARTFORD, Conn. — General Electric Co., the industrial, finance and media conglomerate, reported Friday its second-quarter profit rose 9.6 percent and said it was getting out of the U.S. mortgage business.

The parent of the NBC TV network earned $5.42 billion, or 53 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30, up from $4.95 billion, or 48 cents a share, a year ago. The rise was led by its oil and gas, aviation, energy and commercial finance businesses.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial has been expecting earnings per share of 52 cents. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $42.3 billion from $37.7 billion a year earlier.

Retail sales plunge by sharpest amount in 2 years

WASHINGTON — Consumers put away their wallets in June, sending retail sales plunging by the sharpest amount in nearly two years. Sales of autos, furniture and building supplies all fell, highlighting the economy's weak spots.

The 0.9 percent drop in retail sales was the biggest decline since August 2005, the Commerce Department reported Friday. It was a far bigger setback than the flat reading that had been forecast.

Part of the weakness was seen as payback for a surprise on the upside in May, when sales surged by 1.5 percent. But the June decline was also viewed as an indication that consumers are cutting back under a barrage of higher prices and a recession in the housing industry.

Two gauges of consumer confidence gave conflicting signals Friday. The RBC Cash Index fell to its lowest point in nearly a year while the University of Michigan/Reuters survey rebounded to a six-month high, an increase attributed to a temporary retreat in gasoline prices in late June and early July.

Dollar fights off all-time low against euro

NEW YORK — The dollar clawed back from an all-time low against the euro Friday after a dismal showing this week amid worries about the strength of the U.S. economy.

The 13-nation euro broke through the $1.38 mark for the first time Friday, climbing as high as $1.3813 before falling back to $1.3789 in late New York trading.

The euro bought $1.3783 late Thursday.

The dollar, which has been under pressure all week, weakened Friday after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales in June fell by 0.9 percent compared with the previous month. That marked the biggest drop since August 2005, and it came as demand for cars, furniture and building supplies plummeted.

The dollar recovered some after the Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment showed an increase to 92.4 for mid-July from 85.3 in June.

Dutch court clears hurdle for ABN Amro takeover

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The Dutch Supreme Court burst the logjam in the takeover battle for ABN Amro, the biggest in the history of the banking industry, with a ruling Friday that allowed the bank to sell its U.S. arm and cleared the way for ABN itself to be acquired.

The legal struggle over Chicago-based LaSalle Bank Corp. had kept the larger fight for ABN Amro on hold since early May.

In its ruling, the nation's highest court decided that ABN's management was entitled to sell LaSalle to Bank of America Corp. without consulting shareholders. The sale was widely seen as a "poison pill" measure to avoid a hostile takeover that would be lucrative for shareholders but would tear ABN apart.

The court overturned a lower court ruling and sided with management against a shareholders' rights group that hoped to block the sale.

Energizer to buy Playtex for $1.16B

ST. LOUIS — Energizer Holdings Inc., known for its infinitely running bunny, will buy Playtex Products Inc. for $1.16 billion as the company expands its portfolio of personal care products.

Investors liked the news: Playtex shares soared 15.8 percent, or $2.45, to $17.97 in trading. Energizer shares rose almost 1 percent, or 94 cents, to $107.67.

St. Louis-based Energizer is offering $18.30 per share for Playtex Products Inc., the companies said in announcing the deal late Thursday. The price represents an 18 percent premium over Playtex's closing stock price Thursday.

Westport, Conn.-based Playtex may be best known for the feminine care products that make up 35 percent of its net sales, but it acquired Hawaiian Tropic in the spring, boosting an already substantial skin care division. Playtex owns Banana Boat sun screen, and skin care products made up 37 percent of net sales before the recent acquisition.

Energizer's purchase of Playtex does not include Playtex Apparel Inc., a separate company that makes bras and other apparel.

Gas prices keep climbing as gas futures fall

NEW YORK — Gasoline prices extended their advance at the pump Friday, while gas futures fell again on a growing sense that supplies are catching up to demand.

Oil futures, meanwhile, jumped more than $1 to new 11-month highs on concerns about supply disruptions in the North Sea and growing global demand. Crude futures briefly touched $74 before easing a bit.

The national average price of a gallon of gas rose 2 cents overnight, to $3.046 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail prices, which typically lag the futures markets, have risen steadily since bottoming out at $2.949 a gallon last week. Prices peaked at $3.227 a gallon in late May.

Analysts attribute much of the recent increase to price spikes in the Midwest and Plains states caused by the closure of a 108,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., due to flooding, and of a 250,000 barrel-per-day piece of equipment in Whiting, Ind., due to a leak.

Samsung reports profit decrease for 2nd quarter

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that second-quarter net profit fell 5 percent from a year ago on price declines for its mainstay computer memory chips, but expressed confidence a rebound in the market would bolster earnings.

The company's shares surged 6.4 percent to $749 (687,000 won) amid investor expectations for stronger business performance later in the year as well as on a news report that U.S. investor Carl Icahn may be considering a bid for the company.

Samsung, the world's largest computer memory chip manufacturer, earned 1.42 trillion won ($1.55 billion) in the three months ended June 30, the company said in a statement. Sales rose 3.7 percent during the quarter from the same period last year.

Wall Street numbers

The Dow rose 45.52, or 0.33 percent, to 13,907.25 after reaching a new trading high of 13,932.29. For the week, the Dow rose 295.57 points, or about 2.2 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.80, or 0.31 percent, to 1,552.50. The index late in Friday's session set a fresh trading high of 1,555.10, topping a previous record of 1,553.11 set in March 2000. The S&P added 1.4 percent for the week.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 5.27, or 0.20 percent, to 2,707.00 after spending much of the session moderately lower; the week's gain totaled 1.5 percent.

In futures trading, light, sweet crude for August delivery advanced $1.43 to settle at $73.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $74 earlier.

August Brent gained $1.17 to settle at $77.57 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gasoline for August delivery fell 4.15 cents to settle at $2.2248 on the Nymex.