WHOLESALE PRICES ROSE 0.2 percent last month, the fourth straight monthly gain and another indication that inflation is picking up. Meanwhile, sales by U.S. businesses sagged 1.6 percent in October, boosting inventories at the steepest rate in more than two years.
THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION predicted the economy would expand by 3.2 percent next year, a full percentage point below its earlier projection. But a group of business economists projected growth for next year at 2.8 percent, and some said that a recession may be looming in 1988.
RETAIL SALES gained a strong 0.5 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted $122.25 billion. Excluding a decline in car sales, the gain was 0.9 percent, the biggest one-month increase, excluding cars, since July, 1985.
THE FEDERAL HOME LOAN Mortgage Corp. and the Federal National Mortgage Association plan to raise the limit on the value of single-family mortgages they buy to $153,100, or nearly 15 percent from this year`s level of $133,250. THE PERCENTAGE of homeowners delinquent on their mortgage payments in the third quarter was the lowest in 2 1/2 years, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America said.
INTERNATIONAL
JAPAN`S TRADE SURPLUS fell in November to $7.35 billion, following a surplus of $7.81 billion in October. It was the second successive monthly decline after a record $8.95 billion surplus in September.
DUN & BRADSTREET CORP. said it would stop doing business in South Africa, becoming the latest U.S. firm to withdraw from the racially torn country.
CHICAGO/MIDWEST
DEERE & CO. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $139.7 million, its worst ever. The Moline, Ill., company also posted a record loss of $229.3 million for its fiscal year, the company`s first annual loss in 53 years. Deere also halved its quarterly dividend to 6 1/4 cents a share.
AN INVESTOR GROUP led by Irwin L. Jacobs of Minneapolis said it would seek antitrust clearance to acquire at least 50 percent of Chicago-based Borg- Warner Corp. Meanwhile, GAF Corp., which has said it might try to take over Borg-Warner, acquired a 9.9 percent stake in CBI Industries Inc. and is considering ”a business combination” with that Oak Brook-based company.
ECONOMIST RICHARD S. PETERSON of Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago predicted the six-county Chicago-area economy would outpace the national economy, which he said would grow by about 2.6 percent next year. He added that the Chicago area would be led by continued growth in service industries, decent home-building and a better showing in manufacturing.
SEVENTEEN CHICAGO-AREA investors have sued PaineWebber Inc. and one of its former employees for allegedly defrauding them of about $600,000 through risky options trading.
ILLINOIS POWER CO. reported that its part of the Clinton nuclear power plant would cost $3.8 billion, $500 million more than its most recent cost estimate, made a year ago. The utility`s 537,000 central and southwestern Illinois electricity customers could wind up paying for much of the plant.
STATE TREASURER-ELECT Jerry Cosentino said he sent a letter to major Illinois banks warning that he would pull state deposits unless they lowered their credit-card interest rates.
THE GRANT BROADCASTING SYSTEM said its wholly-owned subsidiaries, which own and operate WGBO-TV Channel 66 in Chicago and two other stations, filed Chapter 11 petitions for protection from creditors under federal bankruptcy law.
CORPORATE
THE LIMITED INC. and Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. dropped a hostile $1.96 billion bid to buy Carter Hawley Hale Stores Inc. after Carter Hawley spurned the bid and proposed to split into two publicly held companies.
CITICORP, THE WORLD`S largest banking firm, is entering the $3 billion public money-transfer business by launching its own nationwide express service.
OWENS-ILLINOIS INC., the world`s largest producer of glass containers, said that Kohlberg Kravis, Roberts and Co. has made a formal proposal to acquire it for $3.3 billion.
EXXON CORP. is selling its Reliance Electric Co. and other companies managed by Reliance for $1.35 billion to a group of investors including Reliance management.
MARKETS
STOCKS: The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 12.80 points for the week, closing at 1912.26. The New York Stock Exchange index lost 2.16 points to 141.53, while the American Stock Exchange index finished down 3.43 at 264.23. The Nasdaq index of over-the-counter stocks closed down 7.03 at 355.93. Composite volume of NYSE-listed stocks for the week was 831.4 million shares, down from 1.027 billion the previous week.
BONDS: The Dow Jones bond index was up .05 of a point for the week at 93.01.
COMMODITIES: The Dow Jones index of commodity futures was down 2.36 points for the week, closing at 116.17. The spot index was down 1.32 at 117.09.
