The Air Force said Friday that it has awarded a $262 million satellite contract to a division of Lockheed Martin Corp. The contract is for long lead parts and material procurement for the Air Force’s fourth Space Based Infrared Systems Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Satellite and a payload.

SAN FRANCISCO—-Fitch Ratings assigns an ‘AA-’ to approximately $31.1 million Western Riverside Water and Wastewater Financing Authority revenue bonds, series 2009 . The bonds are scheduled to sell via negotiation on July 29, 2009.

Investors seem to be running short on hope. With little upbeat news ahead of a crush of corporate earnings reports next week, stocks on Friday hit their longest losing streak since the market’s spring rally began in early March.

U.S. winter wheat production is expected to be down 18 percent from last year but greater than predicted earlier, thanks to a better-than-expected harvest in Kansas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday.

WASHINGTON—-The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste today sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey , Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye , and House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha urging them to eliminate funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine from H.R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.

The U.S. trade deficit fell to the lowest level in more than nine years in May as exports posted a small gain while the weak American economy pushed imports down for a 10th straight month.

NEW YORK—-In the course of routine surveillance, Fitch Ratings has affirmed the ‘AA-’ rating on the city of Clarksville, TN’s approximately $14 million of general obligation bonds, consisting of the following issues:

The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 fell on Friday, dropping for the fourth straight week, after Chevron Corp warned about its quarterly results and consumer confidence fell to it lowest level since March.

Gold and other commodities sold off Friday as investors refrained from buying risky assets as they await more clarity on the economy from earnings reports.

Despite persistently high unemployment, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday the Obama administration’s economic stimulus plan is on the “expected path.”