Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend.
Most of the Asian/Pacific markets were closed today due to holidays. Japan lost 0.81%.
Europe is currently mostly up. Austria, Belgium, Amsterdam, and London are up more than 1%. Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland are up too.
Futures here in the States suggest a gap up open for the cash market. 35 minutes before the open, Nas 100 futures are up 11.0 (0.94%) to trade at 1175.0 while SPX futures are up 7.0 (0.85%) to trade at 830.50.
From barchart.com ->> Supporting European equity prices today is the +53% surge in Barclays Plc after the UK bank said it won’t need to raise additional capital as “record revenue” will cover writedowns, while ING Groep NV rallied 21% after the biggest Dutch financial-services company said it will cut 7,000 jobs and slash costs by 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) this year along with saying it will transfer the risk on 80% of its 27.2 billion euros in Alt-A mortgage securities to the Dutch government, limiting further writedowns. Also supporting European share prices today is the 6.9% jump in Wyeth after Pfizer agreed to pay $68 billion for the company in the largest pharmaceutical acquisition in nearly five years, while Philips Electronices NV, Europe’s largest maker of consumer electronics, rallied over 5% after the company said it has no plans on cutting its 70 cent a share dividend. Undercutting Japanese stocks today was the 4.7% drop in Komatsu after the world’s second-biggest maker of construction equipment lowered its EPS for the year ending in March to 110 billion yen ($1.2 billion) from 190 billion yen, citing sudden sales declines in China and other emerging markets. Nissan Motor Co. , Japan’s third-largest automaker, fell 3.2% after the company’s president said it will take seven years for global car sales to recover to peak levels while Pacific Holdings, a Japanese real estate asset manager, plunged 17% after saying it will delay releasing its earnings because it needs to consult with accountants.
French bank BNP Paribas SA (out of France) said Monday it expects a euro1.4 billion net loss in the fourth quarter and said it plans to tap another euro2.55 billion ($3.26 billion) cash injection from the French state, doubling the aid it received in December.
Bank and insurer ING Group NV (out of the Netherlands) said Monday it will book a large fourth quarter loss, cut 7,000 jobs and change its CEO. It also said the Dutch government will assume the risk for most of euro27.7 billion ($35.8 billion) in troubled U.S. mortgage-backed securities ING owns.
Shares of tire and autoparts maker Continental AG (out of Germany) fell nearly 30 percent Monday morning following a report that it and majority shareholder Schaeffler Group KG were seeking some euro1 billion ($1.3 billion) in state aid.
Steel giant Corus (out of London) said Monday that it will cut 3,500 jobs around the world, with 2,500 jobs going in Britain alone, in an attempt to shore up its finances which have been battered by the sharp fall in global demand.
Poland’s jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent in December, according to government data released Monday, in the latest sign the global financial crisis has started to squeeze the country’s once-booming economy.
Royal Philips Electronics NV (PHG) (out of the Netherlands), the world’s largest lighting maker, on Monday reported a fourth-quarter loss of euro1.47 billion ($1.9 billion) and said it would cut 6,000 jobs, blaming weak global economic conditions for poor business performance, asset write-downs and restructuring charges.
Iceland’s prime minister says government has collapsed amid deepening financial crisis.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) is buying rival drugmaker Wyeth (WYE) in a $68 billion cash-and-stock deal ($50.19 per share) that will increase its revenue by 50 percent, solidfy its No. 1 rank in the troubled industry and transform it from a pure pharmaceutical company into a broadly diversified health care giant. Pfizer also said they’re cutting 8,000 jobs.
Freddie Mac (FRE) is asking the government for another $35 billion.
Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. , (SSCC) the largest producer of cardboard box materials in North America, said Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it looks to restructure a heavy debt.
Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. (HAL) said Monday its fourth-quarter profit fell 32 percent from a year ago as earnings were diminished by a potential settlement of corruption charges with the Department of Justice.
GateHouse Media copyright lawsuit against New York Times Co. (NYT) heads to trial this week.
Sprint Nextel (S) to eliminate 8,000 positions in bid to cut costs $1.2 billion
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the world’s largest maker of mining and construction equipment, said Monday its fourth-quarter profit plunged 32 percent, and that it expects sharply lower results this year as the world economy continues to contract.
McDonald’s (MCD) says its profit dropped 23 percent in the fourth quarter due to a tax benefit that inflated year-ago results, but strong same-store sales helped the hamburger chain beat Wall Street expectations.
Medical device maker and diversified health care company Covidien Ltd. (COV) said Monday its fiscal first-quarter profit fell 8 percent on higher costs, but the results still topped Wall Street forecasts.
Kimberly-Clark (KMB) says a stronger dollar and higher spending on marketing caused fourth-quarter profit to slip 8 percent as consumers also scaled back on spending in a tough economy.
Farm-equipment maker Deere & Co. (DE) says it will lay off almost 700 workers at factories in Brazil and Iowa.
Cal Dive International Inc. (DVR), which provides manned diving, platform installation, pipe burial and related services to offshore oil and gas companies, said it will buy back $86 million worth of the company’s common stock from its majority stockholder Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc., cutting Helix’s stake in Cal Dive to 51 percent from 57 percent.
Danaher Corp. (DHR) said Monday that fourth-quarter profit slipped 4.5 percent as the manufacturer of bar code readers, medical products and hand tools accounted for restructuring charges related to its acquisition of test and measurement equipment maker Tektronix.
Eaton Corp. (ETN), which makes products ranging from car and truck transmissions to electrical circuit breakers, said Monday its fourth-quarter profit dropped 36 percent, as lower exchange rates cut into the company’s sales.
Wyeth (WYE) 4th-quarter profit declines 5.6 percent.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) says its fourth-quarter profit plunged 90 percent on a hefty legal settlement for investigations into the company’s marketing practices.
HMN Financial Inc. (HMNF), the $1.1 billion-asset Rochester, Minn., holding company for Home Federal Savings Bank, swung to a fourth-quarter loss from year-earlier net income as the company increased its provision for possible losses on bad loans.
Hartmarx Corp. (HTMX), the Chicago parent of prominent apparel brands like Hart Schaffner Marx, Hickey-Freeman and many others, said late on Friday that it filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy law.
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) earnings from continuing operations rose to $170 million, or 87 cents a share, from $154 million, or 79 cents, in the year-earlier period. The latest period includes a 5-cents-a-share charge for job cuts and a 5-cent-a-share benefit from tax issues.
Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT), a Houston oil-services firm, said fourth-quarter income rose to $348.1 million, or 50 cents a share, from $331 million, or 47 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
137 of the 500 SPX companies report earnings this week.
Gold is up 0.6% and Silver is up 0.4%.
Crude oil is down 44 cents to trade at 46.03.
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| UPGRADES |
LEN, GRMN, CVH, PSO, LEAP, RWT, NLS |
| DOWNGRADES | CBS, PCU, AUY, RGLD, GOLD, KGC, HMY, GFI, ABX, AEM, AHS, CCRN, ASGN, PCS, PTRY, LECO, CNH, BBBY, AFL, BHP, INWK |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | ALDN, ACV, AIT, BOH, CAT, COV, DHR, ETN, FCF, FCX, HAL, HTLF, KMB, MCD, MOG.A, NS, ONB, PVTB, DGX, SEE, TSN, WFT, GWW |
| during trading | none |
| after the close | ALB, ALGT, AXP, AMGN, BGCP, BKI, CNW, CR, ELS, GGG, JEC, JDAS, KRC, MCK, NFLX, OLN, PTV, PRXL, PLXT, QLGC, RLI, SNDK, SLG, SNS, STLD, TXN, VMW, VLTR, ZION, ZRAN |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
10:00 Existing Home Sales
10:00 Leading Indicators
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