7 Stocks you need to know for Friday

Here are 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Friday.

General Electric (GE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) finally lost the fight to preserve its AAA credit rating as Standard and Poor's announced a downgrade to AA+. The stock was higher on the day, in part because the downgrade was not as steep as feared.

General Motors (GM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced that it did not yet need the $2 billion in emergency public financing it has previously requested.

Bank of America (BAC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) soared on Thursday as CEO Ken Lewis said that he expected the company to be profitable in 2009. Lewis continued to argue aggressively against proposals to nationalize financial firms such as his.

Roche and Genentech (DNA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) have reached an agreement that will allow Roche to acquire the 44% of the biotech company that it doesn't not already own. The final price was $95 per share.

Google (GOOG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is risking the ire of privacy advocates with proposals for a new, user-tracking system designed to help improve its targeted advertising.

Recipient of more than $50 billion in public assistance, Citigroup (C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) co-hosted a conference call to build opposition from to the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to organize and collectively bargain. Citigroup downgraded Wal-Mart (WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) earlier this week on fears that the pro-union legislation would undermine earnings at the world's largest retailer.