Natural gas drops more than 12%

NEW YORK -- Natural gas prices have dropped by more than 12 percent in the past month as the country continues to sip at its energy reserves and a balmy November allowed homeowners to leave the heat off.

Retail prices for natural gas, or what many consumers will pay to heat their homes, are expected to be substantially lower this year.

Spot prices for natural gas have dropped to almost half of what they were last year, though they've increased slightly this month, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The recession has kept natural gas demand low most of the year. With manufacturers shuttering factories and closing offices, the country is using less electricity and power plants are burning less natural gas.

D.R. Horton orders up 26%

Homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc., saw new home orders spike 26 percent from a year ago in the latest quarter as buyers raced to close deals and take advantage of a federal tax credit. But a wider-than-anticipated loss fueled by write-downs sent shares tumbling more than 15 percent Friday.

The surge in orders came as many first-time homebuyers sought to qualify for an $8,000 tax credit that was set to expire at the end of this month before Congress extended it into next year.

D.R. Horton, which caters primarily to first-time buyers, and other builders have seen home orders improve thanks to the incentive. But the tax credit also has raised concerns that it has merely pulled sales forward.

Chase drops card clause

BOSTON -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Friday it is dropping a clause from its credit card contracts that required disputes with customers to be handled through binding arbitration, a move that could lead to consumers filing class-action and other lawsuits.

A spokesman for the New York-based bank's Chase Card Services unit confirmed the change after a law firm that sued banks over arbitration clauses announced a tentative settlement with JPMorgan Chase.

Chase decided to stop sending credit-card disputes to arbitration in July, and now is removing the arbitration clause, spokesman Paul Hartwick said.

From wire reports