The Journal cited people familiar with the situation.

Citigroup spokesmen declined to comment on the report.

Citigroup reported a 57 percent profit drop in the third quarter after taking billions of dollars in writedowns of debt tied up in the tight credit markets and defaulting mortgages, and the bank has been under tough scrutiny since then.

Many investors expect Citigroup to take similar, perhaps even larger, losses in coming quarters.

Analysts have downgraded Citigroup and other major financial institutions in recent days because of concerns about their debt holdings and potential write-offs.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood writers will begin a strike Monday morning unless the writers and studios can agree on a last-minute deal for a new contract over the weekend, union officials said Friday.

A posting on a guild Web site said the walkout would begin at 3:01 a.m. EST and all work by members had to cease. More details were promised over the weekend.

It would be the first strike in nearly 20 years for the writers union.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street turned on itself Friday, as one widely watched analyst said investment banks face $10 billion or more in writedowns this quarter from bad mortgage debt, and another downgraded much of the banking sector on similar fears.

Shares of Merrill Lynch fell almost 8 percent, touching their lowest point since early 2005. Other investment banks fell substantially as well.

The downgrades and the commentary renewed fears of a repeat of August, when stocks sank, credit markets locked up and banks slashed the value of their investment portfolios. Standard & Poor's equity analysts suggested even the banks with the best risk controls will still struggle through the current market.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers added twice as many new jobs to their ranks than expected in October, an encouraging sign that the nation's employment climate is not cracking under the stress of a deepening housing slump.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the nation's payrolls grew by a net 166,000, the most in five months. The unemployment rate didn't budge at 4.7 percent, a figure considered low by historical standards.

Job gains were logged at schools, hospitals, bars and restaurants, hotels and motels, temporary-help firms, legal services, accounting and bookkeeping companies, the government and other places.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street twisted its way through another difficult session Friday, discouraged about the economy's prospects but still managing a higher finish after some concerns about the beleaguered financial sector lifted late in the session.

The major indexes ended the week mixed.

Word shortly before the close that Citigroup Inc.'s board plans to meet in an emergency session over the weekend helped that stock and other financials pare steep losses.

Friday's session ended a week made turbulent not only by bad news from the financial sector but also by spiking commodity prices and hints from the Federal Reserve that it might be less generous with interest rate cuts in the coming months.

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SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Chevron Corp. third-quarter profit slid 26 percent, the steepest decline in five years as the energy market's unpredictable pendulum swung against the second-largest U.S. oil company and most of its peers.

The San Ramon-based company said Friday that it made $3.72 billion, or $1.75 per share, in the three months ended in September, down from net income of $5.02 billion, or $2.29 per share, at the same time last year.

Analysts were bracing for a lower profit, but the erosion was far worse than their average earnings estimate of $2.07 per share, based on a survey by Thomson Financial.

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported a 64 percent jump in third-quarter profit Friday on strong investment gains.

Berkshire said it earned $4.55 billion, or $2,942 per share, during the quarter that ended Sept. 30. That's up from last year's third-quarter net income of $2.77 billion, or $1,797 per share.

Officials at Berkshire, which is led by billionaire Warren Buffett, typically do not comment on quarterly earnings reports. They did not immediately return calls seeking comment Friday.

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NEW YORK (AP) — The prospect of a stronger economy and word of possible new U.N. sanctions against Iran sent crude oil futures back above $96 a barrel Friday, while retail gasoline prices extended their own march higher.

The Labor Department reported that employers boosted payrolls by 166,000 jobs in October and October's unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent.

The Commerce Department said factory orders rose 0.2 percent in September, better than the 0.4 percent decline analysts were expecting.

Oil futures added to their gains late Friday when the British Foreign Office said the U.N. Security Council has agreed to draft a new sanctions resolution that could be passed in November if Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency does not improve. Investors worry that any conflict between the West and Iran would disrupt oil supplies from the Middle East.

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NEW YORK (AP) — The operator of the New York Stock Exchange said Friday its third-quarter profit more than tripled as market volatility over the summer produced record volume.

NYSE Euronext, the product of the New York Stock Exchange's April acquisition of European rival Euronext, saw earnings surge to $258 million, or 97 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30 from $68 million, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.

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By The Associated Press

The Dow rose 27.23, or 0.20 percent, to 13,595.10 after being down more than 120 points at one point in the session.

Broader stock indicators also closed higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.21, or 0.08 percent, to 1,509.65, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 15.55, or 0.56 percent, to 2,810.38.

The Dow and the S&P 500 ended the week with losses, the Dow dropping 1.53 percent and the S&P off 1.67 percent. The Nasdaq managed a gain of 0.22 percent.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $2.44 to settle at a record $95.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $96.05 earlier, short of a trading record of $96.24 set Thursday.

December gasoline rose 9.63 cents to settle at $2.4395 a gallon on the Nymex, and December heating oil rose 6.14 cents to settle at $2.5737 a gallon.

Also on the Nymex Friday, December natural gas fell 21.9 cents to settle at $8.418 per 1,000 cubic feet as investors sold to lock in profits from Thursday's 30.7-cent rally.