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Detroit's Home Federal Savings 117th bank failure
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Office of Thrift Supervision on Friday shut down Home Federal Savings Bank of Detroit, Michigan, making it the 117th bank closure of 2009. All deposit accounts have been transferred to Liberty Bank and Trust Company of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Berkshire to borrow $8B to pay for Burlington
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway said late Friday that it plans to borrow roughly $8 billion to help the company pay for its acquisition of railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe . Berkshire agreed earlier this week to pay $26 billion for the rest of Burlington it doesn't already own. The company is paying 60% of that with cash and the rest with Berkshire stock. In a regulatory filing late Friday, Berkshire said it "expects to fund about 50% of the total cash consideration of approximately $16 billion with internally generated cash and the remainder with borrowings expected to be repaid over a three year period."

Berkshire quarterly net income more than doubles
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway said late Friday that third-quarter net income more than doubled as the insurance-focused conglomerate run by Warren Buffett benefited from a rebound in the value of its large equity investments and derivatives exposures. Third-quarter net income came in at $3.24 billion, or $2,087 per Class A equivalent share, versus $1.06 billion, or $682 per Class A equivalent share, a year earlier. Operating earnings, which exclude investment and derivative gains and losses, were $2.06 billion, or $1,325 per Class A equivalent share, in the latest period. That was slightly lower than a year earlier.

Georgia's United Security year's 116th failed bank
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- United Security Bank of Sparta, Ga, became the 116th U.S. bank of the year to fail, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday. Ameris Bank of Moultrie, Ga. will purchase the bank's assets and assume all of the deposits at a 0.36% premium. As of Sept., United Security had total assets of $157 million and total deposits of about $150 million. The FDIC and Ameris Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on about $123 million of United Security Bank's assets. The failure also brings the year's tally of failures to 21 in Georgia, which leads the nation in bank failures this year.

Freddie Mac narrows quarterly loss
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Freddie Mac late Friday reported its third-quarter net loss attributable to Freddie Mac narrowed to $5.01 billion from a loss of $25.3 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. After payment of $1.3 billion dividend on its senior preferred stock to the Treasury Department, Freddie Mac's net loss attributable to common stockholders was $6.3 billion, or $1.94 a share. Revenue totaled $3.38 billion. "... We believe that factors like high unemployment, excess inventory and rising foreclosures will continue to impede a full recovery for some time and put further downward pressure on house prices. We expect to request additional funds from Treasury as this prolonged deterioration of market conditions continues to negatively impact our financial results," Chief Executive Officer Charles Haldeman said in a statement.

Sun Microsystems narrows first-quarter loss
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Sun Microsystems Inc. said late Friday that its fiscal first-quarter loss narrowed to $120 million, or 16 cents a share, from $1.68 billion, or $2.24 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to $2.24 billion from $2.99 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a quarterly loss of 25 cents a share on revenue of $2.31 billion. In April, Oracle Corp. agreed to buy Sun for $9.50 a share, and in August the Justice Deprtment approved the transaction. The deal still needs approval from the European Commission and other foreign regulators.