Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with sizeable losses. China fell 4.65, Hong Kong, India, Seoul and Taiwan more than 2% and Singapore more than 1%. Japan was closed.
Europe is mostly up. Austria, Belgium and Amsterdam are up more than 1%. There are no other 1% movers. France, Germany and London are ups slightly.
Futures here in the States are mixed and flat. 40 min before the open, Nas 100 futures are down 3.25 (0.22%) to trade at 1193.75 and SPX futures are up 0.25 (0.03%) to trade at 871.50.
The British economy contracted 0.6% in the third quarter – more than expected – prompting expectations the Bank of England may cut interest rates to near 0% in the coming year.
Standard & Poor’s cut GM’s (GM) debt rating and Moody’s cut Ford’s (F) debt rating.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT) had its corporate-credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s.
CIT (CIT) received approval to convert to a bank holding company, which will allow the commercial finance lender to receive a capital injection from the Treasury as part of the TARP program. Word is they’ll be receiving $2.33 billion.
Textron (TXT) says it will eliminate 2,200 jobs and exit the finance business.
Unisys (UIS) is cutting 1,300 jobs globally as part of an effort to cut costs by more than $225 million a year.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Archemix Corp. said Tuesday they will work together to develop drugs for inflammatory diseases in a deal that could be worth as much as $1.4 billion.
Wynn Resorts (WYNN) has opened the new $2.3 billion Encore casino in Vegas.
American Greetings (AM) said it swung to a third-quarter loss as hefty charges, a decline in sales, and a tough economy hurt quarterly results for the greeting card company.
An official in California says the state could be broke in 2 months if a budget deal isn’t struck.
National restaurant, hotel and casino company Landry’s Restaurants (LNY) said late Monday it signed an $81 million credit agreement and is using the financing to refinance debt under a prior credit deal.
Shareholders of PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) will hold a special shareholders meeting to vote on issues related to a merger with National City (NCC).
Old Dominion (ODFL) cut its full-year earnings prediction on Tuesday, citing a steep slowdown in shipments, poor pricing and harsh winter weather.
Weyerhaeuser (WY), a forest products company, said it completed a tender offer to repurchase $250 million in outstanding notes.
Gold Fields (GFI) reiterated its gold production forecast for its fiscal Q2 and sees lower costs from a favorable foreign exchange rate.
Alcoa (AA) said it agreed to exchange equity stakes in certain Scandinavian businesses with Orkla ASA so the companies can play to their respective strengths.
Red Hat (RHT) said that earnings for the third fiscal quarter grew nearly 20% despite a hit to revenue from unfavorable exchange rates.
Textron (TXT) lowered its adjusted fourth-quarter earnings outlook and said it will trim about 5% of its worldwide workforce.
Tibco Software (TIBX) reported a fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $32.3 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a profit of $27.6 million, or 14 cents a share, for the year-earlier period.
Gold is down 0.79% and Silver is down 2.04%.
Crude oil is 5 cents to trade at $39.96.
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| UPGRADES | RHT, PTI, AXYS |
| DOWNGRADES | SINA, FE, WDC, KEG, RRR, VTIV, DYS, EPG |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | AM |
| during trading | none |
| after the close | FSII |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
8:30 Chain Deflator-Final
8:30 GDP-Final
10:00 Existing Home Sales
10:00 Mich Sentiment-Rev.
10:00 New Home Sales
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