Stocks finish their second-best week

Stocks ended higher for a fifth straight day,the longest winning streak in 2 months.

The stock market finished its second-best week in a year Friday as Europe8217;s debt problems appeared to get closer to a resolution.

Stocks ended higher for a fifth straight day,the longest winning streak in 2 months. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75 points after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called on European finance ministers at a meeting in Poland to reach a solution on Greece8217;s debt problems.

The Standard amp; Poor8217;s 500 finished the week with a 5.4 per cent gain. It was the biggest increase for the broad market index since the week that ended July 1.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.91 points,or 0.7 per cent,to close at 11,509.09. The Dow jumped 186 points Thursday,its biggest gain of the week,after five central banks said they would act together to support European lenders with unlimited dollar loans.

The Samp;P index gained 6.90,or 0.6 per cent,to 1,216.01. The Nasdaq added 15.24,or 0.6 per cent to 2,622.31.

Nine of the 10 company types in the Samp;P index rose. Energy companies fell 0.1 per cent.

Officials from countries that use the euro met in Poland to discuss solutions to the long-simmering debt problems affecting the region. The group said it would not decide until next month whether Greece has qualified for its next round of bailout money. Investors had been hoping the question would be decided sooner.

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Antony Conroy,head trader for BNY ConvergEx Group,said traders8217; sentiment was mixed. Some were picking up stocks they thought were undervalued,while others were selling because of long-term concerns about Europe.

Even though we8217;ve had a good couple of days,people still believe there8217;s a good chance that the credit crisis in Europe is going to cause something like a 2008 event,8221; he said.

Stocks rose every day this week,their first five-day winning streak since July. The rose 4.7 per cent this week but is still down 0.9 per cent for the month. The Samp;P is down 0.2 per cent in September.

In corporate news,Blackberry maker Research in Motion Ltd. plunged 19 per cent to 23.93 after reporting sharply lower revenue and income. The company faces stiff competition from Apple Inc.8217;s iPhone and phones that use Google Inc.8217;s Android software. RIM has lost 59 per cent of its value this year. The company said in July it would lay off 10 per cent of its work force.

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Netflix Inc. lost 26 per cent over the past two days,155.19,after the movie-rental company lowered its forecast of U.S. subscribers. Online retailer Ebay jumped 5 per cent to 33.69 after an analyst upgraded the company because of expected growth in its PayPal division. Diamond Foods,maker of Pop Secret popcorn,soared 12 per cent to 87.30 after its profits beat expectations.

Rising and falling shares were about even on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was above average at 4.6 billion shares.