No indictments, probe ends for Countrywide co-founder

A source says federal prosecutors have ended a criminal investigation of Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo.

A federal official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press on Friday that the probe launched in 2008 into Mozilo’s actions during the mortgage meltdown has been closed with no indictments.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was never publicly announced.

Last year, Mozilo agreed to a $67.5 million settlement to avoid a civil trial on fraud and insider trading charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but prosecutors pursuing the criminal case against him found that his actions did not amount to crimes.

Mozilo, 72, hung up the phone when the Los Angeles Times contacted him for comment at his home in the Lake Sherwood golf community in Ventura County, Calif.

Dow has third week of gains, fueled by Dell, Caterpillar

The Dow Jones industrial average continued climbing on Friday, notching its third straight week of gains.

The Dow has lost ground only three days in February. The average of 30 large companies rose 1 percent this week and 4.2 percent for the month.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 1 percent this week and is up 4.4 percent in February.

Better manufacturing reports and stronger profits from Dell Inc., McDonald’s Corp. and other companies have pushed stocks higher this month. With the earnings season coming to a close, nearly 70 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 that reported results so far have beaten analysts’ expectations, according to Royal Bank of Scotland.

Caterpillar Inc. rose 2.4 percent to lead the Dow. The company said sales of its construction and mining equipment surged 49 percent last month.

The Dow gained 73.11 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 12,391.25. The S&P 500 rose 2.58 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,343.01. The Nasdaq composite rose 2.37, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,833.95.

Intel to build $5 billion chip factory in Arizona; hire 4,000

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corp. on Friday said it will build a new chip factory, worth more than $5 billion, in Chandler, Ariz., and hire 4,000 new U.S. employees. Shares of Intel, the world’s biggest chip maker, rose 0.8 percent to close at $22.14 Friday.

Paul Otellini, Intel’s chief executive, announced the plan for the new facility as President Obama was touring the company’s facility in Oregon.

Intel had announced late last year a plan to spend $6 billion to $8 billion over several years to upgrade some of its existing U.S. factories and build a development lab in Oregon.

Regulators shut down four banks; year’s total now at 22

Regulators have shut down two small banks in Georgia and two in California, boosting to 22 the number of bank failures this year after a weak economy closed 157 banks in 2010.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized the banks: Habersham Bank, based in Clarkesville, Ga.; Citizens Bank of Effingham, based in Springfield, Ga.; Charter Oak Bank of Napa, Calif.; and San Luis Trust Bank, based in San Luis Obispo, Calif.