| Market Summary |
Stocks inched higher Thursday morning, but these gains were modest in comparison to the achievement the Dow Jones reached on Wednesday by crossing the 13,000 threshold. Stocks began trading flat Thursday afternoon as investors kept a close watch over the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which has in recent sessions crept closer to its high of 1,527.46. Better-than-expected profit news continued to pour in Thursday, but with less of an impact than on Wednesday. Apple's (AAPL: Charts, News, Offers) profit report beat analysts' estimates, and the stock at times surpassed $100 a share. 3M (MMM: Charts, News, Offers) reported a profit gain that was higher than Street estimates and rose $3.07 to $80.04. So far, 21 of the 30 Dow components have reported earnings, with 15 of those reports exceeding expectations. After the market closes Microsoft Corp. will release its financial results. The Labor Department reported that the applications for jobless benefits fell last week by 20,000, the largest amount in nearly two months.
| More Markets Data
|
|
| Today's issue is sponsored by XPRESSTRADE:
Buying Opportunity in Gold? Get a Gold Trading Kit Now.
- Many savvy traders are using the gold pullback to enter the market…
- Gold is an inflation hedge and "safe haven" asset in turbulent times…
- Gold's 1980 record high of $850 is roughly $2,200 in current dollars...
Click here to visit XPRESSTRADE. |
|
| Market News |
The surprise on Apr. 26: neither Beazer Homes USA (BZH: Charts, News, Offers) nor Pulte Homes (PHM: Charts, News, Offers) dared forecast their business results in 2007. Their caution underscores how the meltdown in the housing market has made it challenging for businesses to carry on as usual and predict what happens next. While both homebuilders said they got crushed during recent months, market players had already been expecting to hear about losses. (Source: BusinessWeek) Full Story
|
Despite falling oil prices that hobbled the competition, Exxon Mobil (XOM: Charts, News, Offers)posted higher first-quarter profit Thursday that topped Wall Street estimates, relying on robust refining and chemical earnings to make even more money on lower revenue. Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, earned $9.28 billion, or $1.62 a share, on $87.2 billion in revenue. That's a 18 percent increase in earnings per share compared to the first quarter a year ago, when the company made $1.37 a share on $89 billion in revenue. (Source: CNN Money) Full Story
|
After setting a record high in 2003, tobacco companies spent less money marketing and advertising their products in 2004 and 2005, a federal agency said Thursday. Promotional spending by the five largest U.S. cigarette makers dropped to $14.15 billion in 2004, down from $15.15 billion in the previous year, and fell further to $13.1 billion in 2005, according to a report issued by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has monitored cigarette sales and marketing trends in regular reports since 1967. Anti-tobacco activists said the companies' promotional spending is still double the amount spent in 1998, the year the major cigarette companies entered into a legal settlement with a group of U.S. states. (Source: Yahoo! Finance) Full Story
|
|
| Featured Article from the InvestorGuide University |
Health Insurance
Learn about the various kinds of health insurance available, including HMOs, PPOs, FFS plans, and Medicare. Find information about the advantages and disadvantages of each type of plan to help you decide what plan is best for you.
Read the Full Article |
Browse the InvestorGuide University
|
|
| Market Analysis |
Now that social arbiter Tom Wolfe has anointed hedge-fund stars the new Masters of the Universe, how can you finagle your underachieving self a seat on the gravy train before it hits the buffers? That 25th anniversary college-reunion invitation will be sent to your low-rent abode any year now. Do you want to roll up to the gathering in a Ferrari or a Ford? I thought so. There's still time to employ a few strategies to inch a little higher up the greasy financial pole and hustle your way onto the bandwagon. (Source: Bloomberg) Full Story
|
First, Toyota (TM: Charts, News, Offers) passes General Motors (GM: Charts, News, Offers) as the top selling car company in the world. Then, Honda (HMC: Charts, News, Offers) announces a quarterly profit on Wednesday that blew away the numbers expected from Ford (F: Charts, News, Offers) a day later. It all makes for a dour mood in Detroit, where losses, layoffs and restructuring plans have become the order of the day. (Source: Forbes.com) Full Story
|
No surprises. That, in a nutshell, is what the Street is expecting from Microsoft's (MSFT: Charts, News, Offers) third-quarter earnings report Thursday afternoon. Analysts are expecting a solid, if not stellar, quarter from the software giant. The 34 research desks polled by Thomson Financial are looking for the company to report 46 cents a share, smack dab inside a tight range of 45 cents on the low side and 47 cents on the high. Now that's what I call consensus. (Source: TheStreet) Full Story
|
| More news and commentary | |
|
|
|
Back to newsletter list
