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Trading on more than 200 stocks was temporarily shut down on the New York Stock Exchange floor on Friday because of a server malfunction, according to the exchange.

Trading on some 250 stocks shut down at 11:30 a.m. ET and resumed at 12:10 p.m., according to the NYSE.

The exchange blamed the problem on a temporary loss of connectivity to three servers.

Three companies among the Dow Jones industrial average components were among those that experienced the temporary loss in connectivity: General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) and Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) loans until payday.

Electronic trading, and trading outside the NYSE, continued without pause, the exchange said. Traders who had experienced interruptions were allowed to cancel pending orders and put in new ones.

– David Siegel of CNN contributed to this report. 

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Home mortgage rates jumped in the most recent week, pulled higher by skyrocketing Treasury yields.

The average 30-year fixed rate soared to 5.95% from 5.45% last week, according to a weekly national survey from Bankrate.com.

The 30-year rate is often influenced by the benchmark 10-year bond’s yield, which has increased steadily to hover around 4% recently. The yield was 2% just six months ago. Investors worry that this has re-ignited inflation fears and threatens the potential for economic recovery.

In an effort to cap mortgage rates, the Federal Reserve in March revealed a campaign to buy back $300 billion in Treasurys in hopes that it will spark demand and keep yields — and therefore, mortgage rates — in check.

Mortgage rates fell as refinancings abounded. But those benefits seem to have worn off, as rates have been on a tear in recent weeks.

Although mortgage rates continue to rise, they remain much lower than last year, when the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.48%.

Adjustable-rate mortgages: Those rising rates have made it difficult for many homeowners to refinance, but ARMs are an option, the Bankrate report noted.

Adjustable-rate mortgages were higher last week, with the average 1-year ARM rising to 5.16% and the 5-year ARM jumping to 5.49%.

"Bankers say ARMs got a bad rap in the mortgage debacle," the report continued, adding that the riskiest loans in the housing bubble –"subprime, low down payment, interest-only, negative amortizing and stated income" — tended to be adjustable-rate mortgages free car insurance quotes.

But the meltdown happened "because those loan features were layered on top of ARMs," the report said, meaning that it was not the adjustable rates that caused people to default. Rather, home buyers put no money down and "exaggerated their earnings when they applied for stated-income loans."

A few months ago, only about 1% of mortgage applications were for ARMs. Last week, it was 3.4%, the report added.

Other rates: The average 15-year fixed rate mortgage jumped to 5.37% from 5.06% the week prior.

The average jumbo 30-year fixed rate ticked up to 6.96% from 6.68%. Loans are considered "jumbo" when they are too large to be purchased or guaranteed by Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500). They carry higher rates than smaller "conforming" loans, which do have guarantees.

Have you applied for a loan modification or refinancing under the Obama administration plan? Did you run into roadbloacks or were you able to get a lower monthly payment and avoid foreclosure? We want to hear your experiences. E-mail your story to realstories@cnnmoney.com, and you could be part of an upcoming article. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here. 

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Retail sales rose in May, breaking two straight months of declines, but the gains were fueled primarily by auto purchases and higher gas prices that pumped up gasoline station sales.

"This report on a high level looks better, but it’s not very reassuring when you look beneath the surface," said Michael Niemira, chief economist with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

The Commerce Department said total retail sales rose 0.5% last month, compared with April’s revised decline of 0.2%. Sales in April were originally reported to have declined 0.4%.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had been expecting May sales to increase 0.5%.

Sales excluding autos and auto parts also rose a better-than-forecast 0.5%, compared to a revised decline of 0.2% in April. But the increase in the measure was driven mostly by higher gas prices that resulted in a 3.6% jump in gasoline station sales.

Economists had forecast May sales, excluding auto purchases, to rise 0.2% from the previous month.

Most economists typically look at core retail sales — excluding gasoline station purchases and auto sales — for a more accurate assessment of the health of the consumer.

Consumer spending is vital to the economy since it accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity cash loans for poor credit. So far this year, the nation’s gross domestic product has declined at a 5.7% annual rate in the first quarter, the third straight quarter of decline.

Much of this softness stems from a continued pullback in consumer spending as more budget-conscious Americans shop only for necessities.

Stripping out both gasoline station and auto sales, core retail sales showed a marginal gain of 0.1% last month.

The report showed that sales in most discretionary categories fell in May. Electronics sellers logged a 0.5% sales decline, furniture sales fell 0.4% and department stores sales declined 0.7%.

Sporting goods and hobby stores registered a 0.8% decline.

But clothing sellers and stores selling building and garden materials bucked the downtrend, with clothing up 0.4% and building gaining 1.3%.

"Weather was a factor last month and likely favored gardening stores," said Niemira. "So this could just be a temporary blip."

"If we look for a broader evidence of the return of the consumer, I don’t think it’s there yet, Niemira said. "Consumer spending is still pretty sluggish." 

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A University City-based chain of shoe stores has filed for bankruptcy protection.

E.J.’s Shoes, a privately held company with 15 stores in four states — including two in the St. Louis area — filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in St. Louis last week and is trying to restructure its debts.

The company, which has about $30 million in revenue, plans to stay open during the bankruptcy proceedings and hopes to emerge in four or five months, said attorney Nick Franke. The 40-year-old chain has seen sales slump for the past two years, he said.

"It’s just the general downturn," Franke said. "It’s affected them like a lot of retailers at that level."

The recession has hit retailers hard as consumers have shut their wallets in recent months. Since September, national same-store sales figures — a key sign of retail health — have slipped from slow growth into shrinkage, said Robert Buchanan, a former retail industry analyst who now teaches finance at St. Louis University.

"A bad situation has gotten worse," Buchanan said. "For any retailer who’s at all marginal or has any significant operational or financial issues, it’s just a treacherous environment."

Throw in some expensive leases on now-closed stores, and E.J.’s needs the court’s help, Franke said. He pointed to an $886,000 lease on a now-shuttered store in Costa Mesa, Calif.

"That store just wasn’t making it," Franke said free credit report and score. E.J.’s may also close a couple of stores and trim its spending, he said.

That makes sense, Buchanan said.

"You’ve got a lot of leverage in bankruptcy. The judge will help you get out of leases," Buchanan said.

Several big chains — such as Circuit City — have filed for bankruptcy with that strategy since the credit crunch hit last year, but have been unable to secure loans and have had to shut down entirely. Franke said E.J.’s main lender — Commerce Bank — had agreed to keep financing the company.

Other, larger, local shoe sellers have had to cut back, too.

St. Louis-based Bakers Footwear Group reported a first-quarter loss on Monday and has renegotiated payment terms with its vendors and landlords. Clayton-based Brown Shoe Co. reported first-quarter sales figures last week that were below last year’s and said it would close some stores.

It was a deal with Brown that triggered a name change at E.J.’s St. Louis-area stores in 2007. Until then, E.J.’s had been known as Famous Brand Shoes. But it sold that name to the bigger company, which operates Famous Footwear stores, and renamed its own locations E.J.’s Designer Shoe Outlet.

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Auto dealers are using rebates, discounts, and other incentives to lure buyers back into their showrooms. But once they get customers through the door, dealers are still battling an issue that has troubled the industry for months: a lack of financing.

Brandon Schaefer, the owner of Nationwide, a string of dealerships in Timonium, Maryland, says foot traffic has improved, but lending has not. "About twice as many people as before are getting turned down for loans," he says. "The guidelines continue to get stricter."

Some lenders have said in recent months that they would try to cut more deals. After GMAC received TARP money in December, the auto lender — reborn as a bank — announced plans to set aside $5 billion for new contracts and promised to consider applicants with credit scores as low as 621. But despite having lower standards, GMAC still originated just $3.4 billion worth of loans for new vehicles in the first quarter, down from $13.1 billion in the same period last year.

Spokesperson Michael Stoller says the bank lowered its bar again this spring. "We want dealers to send business our way," he says. "We’re looking at applications from customers with scores below 620."

Of course, looking isn’t approving. Jeffrey Knott, a Florida based dealership consultant, says one of his customers received a rejection from GMAC a few days ago despite having a FICO score of 652. Though Knott says GMAC is "working harder than other banks" to improve the situation, situations like these persist: "Getting loans is still the number one problem for auto dealers right now," he says.

The financing environment for auto buyers has been difficult since 2007, when the credit crunch spread from the housing market to other sectors of the economy. Lenders struggled to sell their asset-backed securities, and delinquencies among cash-strapped customers shot up.

In order to steel themselves against future losses, auto lenders slammed the brakes on new contracts. From the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2008, loan approval rates for prime applicants, who have credit scores above 750, fell from 95% to 84%, according to CNW Research. Subprime applicants were far worse off — just 17% of them were approved last December, down from 66% in 2007.

Good credit, no loan. There has been a slight uptick in approvals this year, with 89% of prime applications and 20% of subprime borrowers receiving loans in May. But that still pales in comparison to the pre-credit crunch market, says Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "The days of showing up with nothing but a smile on your face are over," he says. "Today, stories are legion of people who have great credit and still can’t get car loans."

Some dealers are having more luck. Tony Pordon, a senior VP at Penske Automotive, says his company’s 300 dealerships have seen an improvement in financing. "The freeze hit its peak in the fourth quarter of 2008, but it’s much better now," he says. "[The lack of] foot traffic is hurting sales more than financing at this point."

Penske may have an advantage because it mainly processes loans through the captive financing units of foreign automakers like Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), and BMW, which are in better financial health than their American counterparts no teletreck payday advance. While GMAC’s originations were down by about 75% last quarter, BMW Financial Services only produced 20% fewer contracts than it did last year. (Penske recently purchased former General Motors brand Saturn, but isn’t commenting on how it will finance the vehicles).

No cash. Pordon also says these captive units, which are tied to their manufacturers, may be more invested in accomplishing deals. But even if lenders want to help their manufacturers "move metal," many of them still lack the means to boost loans, says J.D. Power & Associates financial services analyst David Lo. "There’s a conservatism around lending right now that supercedes everything," he says. "If the lenders have difficulty securitizing loans, they simply don’t have the cash to make them."

Until recently, auto financing was a growing industry, expanding beyond carmakers’ captive branches to banks and subprime lenders. In addition to the captive branches of carmakers, banks and subprime lenders were also getting in the game. Since the credit crunch, however, many new entries have dropped out. For instance, HSBC stopped writing loans last year, and several subprime auto lenders have gone out of business.

One of the largest subprime lenders, Fort Worth-based AmeriCredit (ACF), has to cut back on its loan originations to about $200 million per quarter, down from $2 billion in 2007. Defaults amongst lenders are at 13%, up from 11% in March. "We’ve had to tighten our credit policies dramatically," says CFO Chris Choate. "We’ve lowered our tolerances for loan-to-value ratios and lifted our minimum credit scores."

As banks and subprime lenders pull back, one group of lenders has expanded its share over the last year. Nick Connors, an analyst at industry research firm Callahan & Associates, says credit unions now command more than 20% of the auto financing market, up from 13% in 2002. "A lot of lenders out there have stepped back or tightened standards," he says. "By staying in, credit unions have captured more of their volume."

Lo says the upheaval in the financing landscape has dramatically changed the dynamic between dealers and lenders. "Dealers used to say, I have a number of financing sources to help customers. Now, there’s been a power shift — the lenders are turning down deals."

Have you applied for a home loan modification or refinancing under the Obama administration plan? Did you run into roadbloacks or were you able to get a lower monthly payment and avoid foreclosure? We want to hear your experiences. E-mail your story to realstories@cnnmoney.com and you could be part of an upcoming article. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here. 

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the sale of Chrysler LLC to Italy’s Fiat, while General Motors began to revamp its widely criticized board by naming former AT&T Inc chief executive Ed Whitacre as chairman.

In a victory for the Obama administration driving the restructuring of bankrupt Chrysler, the court denied a request from Indiana pension funds to delay the sale to a group led by Fiat, a union-aligned trust and the U.S. and Canadian governments.

The White House welcomed the high court’s action.

“We are delighted that the Chrysler-Fiat alliance can now go forward, allowing Chrysler to re-emerge as a competitive and viable automaker,” said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock said in an emailed statement he was “disappointed” with the verdict.

“The future ramifications of the court’s decision on the capital markets remain to be seen,” Mourdock said.

A spokeswoman for Chrysler had no immediate comment.

According to a person familiar with Chrysler’s plans, the company is aiming to close the sale early Wednesday morning.

The person declined to be named because the plans are not yet public.

“Today’s decision is good news for the country,” said U florida health insurance.S. Representative Gary Peters of Michigan, whose district includes Chrysler headquarters. “Chrysler’s swift emergence from bankruptcy has put the company in position to become more globally competitive.”

Erich Merkle, independent auto analyst based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said the choices were “approval of the sale or liquidation.”

Moreover, Merkle said the court’s decision to stand back was good news for GM, which is using a similar quick-sale strategy to facilitate its government-backed trip through bankruptcy.

“The stakes here were immense. Both GM and Chrysler need to get out of bankruptcy. They can’t stay in,” Merkle said, noting that Chrysler still had to demonstrate viability once it steps out of court protection.

John Casesa, managing partner at Casesa Shapiro Group, said at a conference at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, on Tuesday that both GM and Chrysler will be salvaged but it is unclear if they can be saved.

“The government can’t assure long-term viability,” he said, adding that Chrysler will shrink under Fiat ownership and GM’s future is hard to forecast. 

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Three groups have entered bids for Saab, General Motor’s Swedish car unit, and a preferred bidder is to be chosen by the end of this week, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

The FT said Swedish luxury sportscar maker Koenigsegg and Ira Rennert’s Renco Group were among the suitors, as well as Merbanco, a group of investors from the U.S. state of Wyoming.

GM is to finance the spin-off by $500 million in assets and cash, plus production equipment for a new Saab model as well as $150 million of cash already in Saab’s account.

Under the deal, the new owner is to pay GM back if it succeeds in turning Saab around, the report said online payday advance.

Cash amounts pledged by the three bidders vary, but it is smaller than the amount GM is contributing, the paper said.

The Swedish carmaker, which first sought protection from creditors in February, was granted an extension of its business reorganization until August 20 to line up a new owner and restructure. Saab has said it was hopeful a final deal could be agreed before mid-June.

(Editing by Dan Lalor)

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General Motors Corp will give more than $2.5 billion of the $3.6 billion needed for Platinum Equity to gain control of bankrupt car parts supplier Delphi Corp, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a source.

Under terms of the transaction, private equity firm Platinum is expected to invest no more than $750 million and GM (GMGMQ) would provide the balance in financing, the report said Thursday, citing the source.

Terms of the GM loans could not be learned, the report added.

Platinum declined to comment. GM and Delphi were not immediately available for comment.

It was earlier reported that under the new organization plan for Delphi, Parnassus Holdings II LLC, a unit of Platinum Equity, would acquire and operate Delphi’s U.S. and non-U.S. businesses with emergence capital and capital commitments totaling $3 business cards design.6 billion.

At that time, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the $3.6 billion financing package would come from various sources including GM and Platinum, but declined to elaborate.

As part of the reorganization plan, GM has agreed to acquire five Delphi plants and its global steering business.

GM itself filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week, the third-largest filing in U.S. history and largest ever in U.S. manufacturing.

GM earlier said a bankruptcy court judge granted approval for it to access a new $33.3 billion debtor-in-possession financing facility from the U.S. Treasury and the Canadian and Ontario governments. 

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European consumer spending and exports contracted the most in at least 14 years in the first quarter and investment slumped as the worst global recession in more than six decades prompted companies to cut output and jobs.

Gross domestic product shrank 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter, matching an initial estimate and the most since the data were first compiled in 1995, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said. Household consumption contracted 0.5 percent while exports dropped 8.1 percent and imports fell 7.2 percent, all the most since the series began in 1995. Investment fell 4.2 percent after a 4.3 percent drop in previous quarter that also was the sharpest since 1995.

Even with evidence building that the worst of the economic crisis may be over, euro-area unemployment is at a 10-year high as payrolls start to reflect the severity of the recession with companies from ThyssenKrupp AG to Air France-KLM Group firing workers. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who last month pointed to “tentative signs” of stabilization in the economy, tomorrow will unveil the bank’s latest economic forecasts and details on its next policy steps.

“The declines in exports and investment are mind- bogglingly large,” said Kenneth Wattret, chief euro-region economist at BNP Paribas in London. “The economy is in dire straits so the pressure is still there on the ECB to do more unconventional things.”

Euro-Area Economy

Today’s report showed that from a year earlier, the euro- area economy shrank 4.8 percent in the first quarter, more than double the 1.7 percent contraction in the previous three months. The statistics office had initially put the annual contraction at 4.6 percent for the first quarter.

The running down of inventories contributed 1 percentage point to the GDP contraction in the quarter, the report showed.

“In a way it’s a good sign because it means that inventory unwinding, at least in part, has run its course,” said Daniele Antonucci, European economist at Capital Economics in London.

Amid global concerns about deflation, euro-area producer prices fell 4.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the most since the data were first compiled in 1981, a separate report showed today.

“The massive contraction in industrial activity across the euro zone in recent months has clearly hit manufacturers’ pricing power very hard,” said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight in London Faxless payday loans. “The euro-zone outlook still looks far from bright and we suspect that sustainable recovery is unlikely to develop until 2010.”

Credit Losses

The economy will contract “massively” this year and the central bank’s updated forecasts due tomorrow “won’t be very good,” ECB council member Ewald Nowotny said in Vienna last night, Austrian news agency APA reported. Growth next year will be around zero, he said. The EU last month forecast the economy will contract 4 percent this year and 0.1 percent in 2010.

The financial crisis, which started with the collapse of the U.S. property market in 2007, has triggered more than $1.48 trillion of writedowns and credit losses at financial companies and sent the global economy into its first recession since World War II, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The ECB will probably hold its main interest rate at a record low of 1 percent tomorrow, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, as it sets out the mechanisms for buying 60 billion euros ($86 billion) of covered bonds, low-risk securities backed by mortgages and public sector loans. Nowotny said in a letter to Austrian hoteliers last week that the central bank could expand the asset-purchase program beyond that, buying bonds or commercial paper.

Economic Confidence

The global economy will shrink 1.3 percent this year before expanding 1.9 percent in 2010, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. Still, European economic confidence rose for a second month in May and a report today showed the manufacturing and service industries contracted more slowly last month. Investors have also grown more optimistic as the MSCI World Index is trading around seven-month highs.

In the U.K., the euro region’s largest trading partner, consumer confidence rose in May to a six-month high as shoppers became more hopeful that the economy will emerge from the recession, Nationwide Building Society said today.

The euro was lower against the dollar after the GDP report. The European currency traded at $1.4161 at 3 p.m. in London, down 1 percent on the day.

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OTTAWA–Automotive entrepreneur Frank Stronach wants Ottawa to loan him hundreds of millions of dollars so he can start manufacturing electric cars in Canada for a world market in as little as three years.

Stronach met with reporters today to show off an electric Ford car containing an electrical system developed by his company Magna, which is best known for its automotive parts production.

"About two and a half years ago we made a commitment to be in the electric car business in a very serious way," he said.

Stronach, who was vague on whether he planned to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, envisaged that in six years about 15 per cent of all vehicles sold will be electric and in 12 years that will jump to 30 per cent.

"I am very confident that Magna will be amongst the leaders in selling and building electric cars," said Stronach, who is expected to soon take over General Motors’ Opel subsidiary in Europe.

"We are not here for a grant … I would like to see that the first electric car facilities are in Canada. If could get a loan we know we could speed it up. We could make sure it’s going to be in Canada," he said, adding he is being courted by several states in the U.S. and by European countries.

Stronach, who is even toying with the idea of building Opels in Canada within two years, said it will cost up to $300 million to get into electric car and battery production.

"First of all we’d like to supply all car companies with electrical systems but we also have the intention to build electric cars. So that’s our intention and that needs a fair amount of money. And I hope maybe half of the money we could borrow under reasonable conditions instant payday loans."

The energized 76-year-old Stronach said a person doesn’t have to be a "great scientist" to understand that the world’s supply of oil is running out sooner than later.

He said Magna has signed an agreement with Kokum Lithium-ion Batteries to secure all the rights, present and future, giving the Canadian company the right to make the fuel cells because "we do not want to be subject by any other company that they could cut us off."

Meanwhile, in what Stronach described as the biggest move of his career, Aurora-based Magna reached a tentative deal late Friday to invest 300 million euros, or $470 million for a 20 per cent stake in Opel AG, GM’s main operating unit in Europe.

Sberbank of Russia, which is Magna’s partner in the deal, would hold 35 per cent while GM would retain 35 per cent. Opel employees would get the remaining 10 per cent in a deal that should close in two months.

The German government is providing $1.5 billion euros in loans to keep Opel alive and protect several plants and about 25,000 jobs in that country. Under Magna’s agreement with GM to buy Opel, it is not allowed to sell Opels in the U.S. or China.

As an aside, Stronach told reporters that the federal and Ontario governments did the right things by kicking in a total of $10.6 billion to help out flagging General Motors.

"If they would have gone bankrupt and was sold in bits and pieces the spin-off effect may have been a few million jobs between Canada and the United States. Under the circumstances, I think it was the right decision to do," he said.

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