08:33 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -11.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -27.50. Stock futures continue to indicate a downbeat tone ahead of the session's opening bell. Analysts at Morgan Stanley slashed their earnings estimate for Goldman Sachs (GS). Persistent uncertainty in financial markets and a clouded economic outlook have resulted in lower earnings expectations for many firms, and has also led to mounting job cuts on Wall Street. Recent reports indicate Goldman Sachs has informed some 3,200 employees, or 10% of its workforce, they will lose their jobs. Meanwhile, Bloomberg.com reported Citigroup (C) has begun notifying some of the 9,100 employees, or 2.6% of its workforce, whose jobs will be eliminated. The announcements coincide with continued government reports indicating a relatively weak labor market. Jobless claims for the week ending November 1 totaled 481,000, marking a 4,000 decrease from the prior week's upwardly revised claims number. The latest figures also exceeded the 477,000 claims that were widely expected. Continuing claims through October 25 totaled 3.84 million, which is up from the 3.72 million continuing claims reported through the prior week. 3.74 million continuing claims were expected in the latest report. In other economic news, preliminary third quarter nonfarm productivity was up 1.1%, exceeding the 0.7% increase that was widely expected. Nonfarm productivity increased at a 3.6% rate in for the prior report. Meanwhile, a preliminary reading of unit labor costs indicated a 3.6% increase, which is more than the 3.0% increase that was widely expected.
