Market News

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EBay Inc. on Wednesday posted a 50 percent rise in net profit on strength in its core auction and payments businesses, but left its 2007 outlook unchanged, defying Wall Street's hopes for a boost.

 

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IBM on Wednesday reported a second-quarter profit of $2.26 billion, or $1.55 a share, up from $2.02 billion or $1.30 a share a year ago. Revenue grew by 8.6% to $23.77 billion from last year's $21.9 billion. Excluding a gain from the sale of its printing systems business, IBM would have earned $1.50 a share. The company topped the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who forecast IBM to earn $1.47 a share on $23.07 billion in revenue. IBM's its results were helped by strong sales from its global services business, which posted revenue of $13.1 billion.

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Sto...4166-B395-8560255A67C4}&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo

 

[tsptalk]

IBM and JNPR up 1.5% to 2% after hours. Ebay was up 2%, now down slightly.

 

[Birchtree]

Yes, love is in the air.

 

[USNAVYRETIRED]

IBM and JNPR up 1.5% to 2% after hours. Ebay was up 2%, now down slightly.

You know, most people believe that IBM stands for International Business Machines, but the truth is it stands for "Itty Bitty Machine"! :cheesy:

 

[weatherweenie]

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.9. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +11.8. Early indications suggest yesterday’s late-day recovery attempt will carry over into this morning’s opening bell. A better than expected batch of earnings is helping stocks bounce back from a session influenced by earnings disappointments. Dow component IBM (IBM) after boosting its full-year growth forecasts last night is renewing optimism throughout a tech sector that a day earlier took a bearish cue from Intel’s (INTC) margin pressures and a warning from Yahoo! (YHOO). Other large-cap names contributing to the positive disposition include Bank of America (BAC), which beat expectations, UnitedHealth Group (UNH), which lifted the upper end of its full-year guidance, and Wyeth (WYE), which boosted its 2007 outlook.

 

[weatherweenie]

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +5.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +15.8. Initial claims, which were compiled during the same week as the crucial July payrolls report, unexpectedly fell 8K to 301K (consensus 310K). Since that's the lowest number of jobless benefits in two months, suggesting labor conditions remain healthy, the futures market has gotten a boost and now points to an even stronger start for stocks.

 

[offtrack]

Everything's rosy but Bernanke looms in the afternoon. Tomorrow is probably going to spin on MSFT and GOOG reporting tonight

 

[Show-me]

Everything's rosy but Bernanke looms in the afternoon. Tomorrow is probably going to spin on MSFT and GOOG reporting tonight

And, FOMC minutes are released this afternoon. No surprises please. :worried:

 

[weatherweenie]

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve officials said risks to economic growth last month were ``more balanced'' than in May and reiterated that inflation remains the biggest policy concern.
``Members generally regarded the risks to economic growth as more balanced than at the time of the May meeting,'' the central bank said in minutes of the June 27-28 Federal Open Market Committee meeting released today in Washington.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a4642UgdQPpw&refer=economy

 

[weatherweenie]

GOOG is down more than 4% afterhours

Google's 2Q Profit Surges 28 Percent, Falling Below Analyst Views

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc.'s second-quarter profit climbed 28 percent, falling below Wall Street's high expectations for the Internet's search leader. The Mountain View-based company earned $925.1 million, or $2.93 per share, during the three months ended in June. That compared with net income of $721.1 million, or $2.33 per share, at the same time last year

 

[weatherweenie]

Briefing.com: Caterpillar misses by $0.24; reaffirms FY07 guidance (CAT) 86.98 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.24 per share, $0.24 worse than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $1.48; revenues, excluding financial products rose 6.6% year/year to $10.61 bln vs the $10.34 bln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY07, sees EPS of $5.30-5.80 vs. $5.60 consensus; reaffirms total revs of $44 bln. Co stated, "Disappointing earnings in the second quarter were attributable to the sharp negative swing in on-highway truck engine profitability, weakness in North American machine sales, continued selected supply chain disruptions and higher material costs," said Owens. "Manufacturing costs were also higher, in part, due to transitional costs associated with the launch of the Cat Production System."

 

[weatherweenie]

Schlumberger beats by $0.06 (SLB) 93.45 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.02 per share, $0.06 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.96; revenues rose 20.3% year/year to $5.64 bln vs the $5.56 bln consensus.

 

[weatherweenie]

Briefing.com:
08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -12.0. Early indications are pointing to a sharply lower open for the cash market. Google (GOOG) missing expectations for just the second time since its 2004 IPO and Microsoft (MSFT) merely matching forecasts, after a long history of upside surprises, set the negative tone last night and leave investors again questioning the tech sector's optimistic growth prospects.
With the Dow finally closing above 14,000 and logging its 32nd record finish this year, a huge shortfall from Caterpillar (CAT) is also giving investors a reason to take some money off the table. CAT's 5% pre-market plunge more than offsets a 1% early surge in shares of fellow Dow component Citigroup (C) following its record quarter.

 

[weatherweenie]

SP500 back to 1540

Briefing.com:
2:30 pm : Onward and upward continues to be the mantra in the afternoon session; the bulls, however, still have a long way to go since market breadth remains decidedly bearish. As reflected in the A/D line, decliners on the NYSE hold a more than 3-to-1 edge over advancers while those on the Nasdaq hold about a 2.5-to-1 margin.
The ratio of down to up volume, however, is even more divergent which further dictates the conviction with which sellers feel the market has gotten ahead of itself. All 10 sectors are still under pressure and the day's worst performer continues to be the most influential one of them all, Financials (-1.2%).

 

[weatherweenie]

Briefing.com
Bond Watch: Reaction to Risk Bounces Bonds (BONDX) : The marketplace is starting to take another look at risk, pricing in more vig on issues coming to market while spreads widen. Expectations that the problems in the subprime world are starting to play out in other areas of the financial world, spreading like a rash with hedgers starting to scratch 1st. Bonds reaped the benefits as safe-haven buying stepped up & talk of some being forced out of certain riskier instruments or adding some protection buying bonds. There is the potential for a steep fall off in prices, however, as the recent volatile swings have been on generally spotty volumes so support could be sketchy. The week ahead has a few items that could push prices around some as well as a couple of auctions in the mix. The curve trade worked its way steeper with the 2-10-yr yield spread headed out at 18.3, well within the week's fairly tight range. The dollar retraced some of its losses against the majors but still went out looking severely wounded. Spot gold is benefiting in the meantime all the way up to 683.30 (+5.80) as the buck falls apart while crude oil pulled back a little to 75.57 (-0.35). Next week brings housing & a first look at Q2 GDP & not too much else. The euro is at 1.3822 & the yen is at 121.2450 while the 10-yr yield is at 4.954%. For more bond & economic commentary click here.

 

[weatherweenie]

08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +5.8. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +4.3. After selling off across the board Friday, stocks look poised to bounce back this morning. Per usual for a Monday morning, there is some M&A news of note. Transocean (RIG) and GlobalSantaFe (GSF) agreed to a merger of equals valued at nearly $53 bln while United Rentals (URI) agreed to be taken private for $6.6 bln, including the assumption of debt.
S&P 500 futures recently touched their best levels of the morning, though, after Merck (MRK) topped Wall Street expectations and boosted its full-year forecasts. The Dow component is up 4% in pre-market action.

 

[weatherweenie]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070723/lam052.html?.v=94

TI Reports 2Q07 Financial Results
Monday July 23, 4:30 pm ET

- TI Revenue Up 7% Sequentially

- EPS of $0.42, Up 20% Sequentially

- Record Gross Margin as Company Progresses Toward Higher Profitability Goals

 

[weatherweenie]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070723/earns_american_express.html?.v=2

American Express 2Q Profit Climbs 12 Percent on Record Card Member Spending

NEW YORK (AP) -- American Express Co. posted a 12 percent jump in its second-quarter profit, the nation's third-largest credit card brand said Monday, fueled by record spending by card members.

 

[weatherweenie]

Tomorrow before the open look for the following companies to report: AKS, T, BIIB, BJS, BOW, BNI, CRDN, CME, CPO, CFC, SSP, LM, LXK, LMT, MCD, NOC, OXY, BTU, PEP, DGX, SAOA, TLAB, X, UAUA, UPS, WU, and XTO.