NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Stocks declined for a second straight session Wednesday as oil prices surged to briefly cross the $100 per barrel mark amid mounting turmoil in Libya.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 107 points, or 0.9%, a day after the blue-chip index plunged nearly 180 points. That was the first back-to-back triple-digit drop for the blue-chip index since June.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. stocks managed to tick higher Thursday, pushing the Dow and S&P to their highest levels since the summer of 2008.

The major indexes have been inching higher for months, but Stifel Nicolaus managing director Tom Schrader expects stocks will soon head lower.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks ran into a wall of worry Tuesday as violence erupted on the Korean peninsula, concerns about Europe’s debt crisis expanded and the Federal Reserve issued a dour economic outlook.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 142 points, or 1.3%, to close at 11,036. The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 17 points, or 1.4%, to 1,181. The Nasdaq (COMP) slid 37 points, or 1.4%, to 2495.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The summer has come to an end, and so has the market slump that came with it. With little on tap to challenge the recent rally, stocks are on track to close September with the biggest monthly gains in over a year.

Though September is typically down month on Wall Street and the economic recovery remains sluggish, investors have taken cues from recent upbeat economic news to propel major indexes sharply higher during the month after a sell-off in August.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Exxon Mobil Corp. reported quarterly earnings Thursday that easily beat analysts’ expectations on higher crude prices.

The world’s largest public energy company reported net income of $7.56 billion, or $1.60 a share, in the second quarter, up 91% from $3.95 billion, or 81 cents a share, in the same period in 2009.

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Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.46 a share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

Earnings for the first half of 2010, excluding special items, were $13.9 billion, up 60% over the first half of 2009.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) — With one week down and one week to go on negotiations melding the two Wall Street reform bills, lawmakers have a lot of tough decisions ahead.

House and Senate negotiators had set a goal to finish work on reconciling the bills – aimed at preventing the next financial crisis – before President Obama heads to Canada on Friday for two major summits of world leaders.

NEW YORK (Money) — Question: I’m very worried that we may see another stock market correction. Since the market low of early March, my 401(k)’s value has risen 77%, which seems like an awfully large jump. So last week I moved the majority of my investments into bond and money-market funds, although I did leave 50% of my international holdings intact. Do you think I jumped too soon? –Rick G., Corona, Calif.

Answer: I don’t think the question is whether you jumped too soon, but whether you should be jumping at all.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Last week’s big selloff did more than just rattle investors: it put an end to a seven-month win streak that had pushed the S&P 500 more than 60% above the March lows.

While the monthly decline was small — less than 2% — it emerged after a tumultuous week dictated by a stronger dollar, sliding energy and financial issues, and a variety of quarterly financial reports. A stronger-than-expected rise in third-quarter GDP growth — the strongest sign yet that the recession is over — provoked a one-day rally and nothing more.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Microsoft Corp.’s stock soared early Friday after the software giant reported quarterly sales and profit that fell from year-ago results but easily beat Wall Street’s forecasts.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) rose more than 10% in early trading. It surged as high as $29.35 at the open, hitting its highest level, on an intraday basis, since June 13, 2008.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant said its first-quarter net income fell 18% to $3.6 billion, or 40 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 30. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of 32 cents per share.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche’s $10.5 million annual pay package has been formally approved by Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

According to a letter to Treasury’s compensation committee dated Oct. 2, Feinberg said Benmosche’s package, $4 million of which is in stock options, is comparable to that of other CEOs.

Benmosche, who took over the bailed out insurer’s reins in August, will take home $3 million in cash. His “stock salary” will come in equally divisible, bimonthly payments of common shares. Under the terms of his pay deal, he can’t sell those shares until August 2014.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Sunburned and barbecued out, Wall Streeters returning to work Tuesday face the first big challenge to the six-month-old rally.

Even after a down week on Wall Street, punctuated by a mixed August jobs report, the S&P 500 remains 50% above the 12-year lows hit in March.

Stocks churned in a narrow range for most of August, ending the month higher. But with fewer people around and trading in August, the market rally didn’t really face much of a challenge. That won’t be the case in September.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Dow Jones & Co. is looking to sell its stock-market index business, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Dow Jones, which was purchased by News Corp. (NWS, Fortune 500) in 2007, owns a basket of stock market indexes, each of which average a group of stocks to determine market trends.

The best known of all the indexes is the Dow Jones industrial average. The group of 30 stocks, often referred to as “the Dow,” is one of the most commonly used major indicators for blue-chip stocks like Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500), Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) among others. But, if sold, the index could bear the name of its new owner.