Earnings, growth reports scare away investors

Stocks closed mostly lower Friday after investors found little to like in weak corporate earnings reports and news of only tepid growth in the U.S. economy in the third quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average managed a gain of 3.53 points to close at 13,107.21 after spending much of the day in the red.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 1.03 points to 1,411.94 and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.83 points to 2,987.95.

Stocks rose in the morning before a mild midday sell-off, then recovered somewhat in the afternoon.

The morning gains came after the Commerce Department estimated that the U.S. economy expanded at a 2 percent annual rate from July through September. That was better than the previous quarter, and better than analysts expected, but not strong enough to bring down the unemployment rate.

Former media mogul takes heat to promote book

Former media mogul Conrad Black has appeared on a British satirical show, defying the program’s mockery of his convictions in the U.S. and claiming innocence.

Satirists on the show “Have I Got News For You” made constant jokes at the expense of Black, who used to control papers including the Chicago Sun-Times and Britain’s Daily Telegraph. But Black insisted on the show, which aired Friday, that he was wrongly convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice.

Earlier this week, he clashed with two British journalists, hurling insults at them and criticizing their questions.

Black was released from a U.S. prison in May, and is promoting his new book.

Louisiana selected to host new steel mill

A German steel company has selected Louisiana for a $900 million U.S. expansion.

At a news conference Friday, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Benteler Steel/Tube said the company will build a new hot rolling tube mill at the Port of Caddo-Bossier. The move is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs and an estimated 675 full-time positions at the facility when at full capacity.

Company officials say the new mill will strengthen its position in the North American oil country tubular goods market. Groundbreaking is scheduled for next spring.

New Mexico refinery agrees to pay fine for two deaths

An oil refinery in New Mexico will pay a $400,000 fine in a settlement over safety violations stemming from an explosion that killed two employees and injured two others in 2010, authorities said Friday.

The New Mexico Environment Department and Navajo Refining of Artesia entered a settlement agreement for citations issued by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The explosion occurred on March 2, 2010, when employees of Northwest Insulation of Texas were performing welding operations on top of a storage tank at the refinery in the southeastern New Mexico community of Artesia. A welder ignited vapors from flammable liquids within the tank, according to investigators.

The resulting explosion ripped open the top of the tank.