Greenspan On The Hill
Ahead of the July consumer confidence numbers and the June existing home
sales report, stocks are moving higher at the open. All eyes also turn toward
Capitol Hill where Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan will address the House Banking
Committee.
The Dow futures are up 50 points, and the Nasdaq futures are up 45.5 points.
The S&Ps look to open up 6.5 points while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury is holding up at 6.01%
Street estimates look for a 139 reading in consumer confidence and 5 million
existing home sales when the reports are released at 10:00 AM ET.
Morning Movers
Wireless chip giant Texas Instruments
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PowerRating) posted second quarter
earnings of 31 cents per share, topping First Call/Thomson Financial estimates
of 30 cents per share. Texas Instruments closed Monday up 1/2 to 63 and was bid
on Instinet up to 68 7/16 in pre-market action. Texas Instruments had traded at
90 as recently as June 20.
AT&T
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PowerRating) topped Wall Street estimates for the second quarter with its
57 cent per share earnings which beat the 53 cents analysts expected. AT&T
closed Monday down 15/16 to 33 5/16.
Online broker Ameritrade
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PowerRating) topped First Call/Thomson Financial
estimates of a penny per share loss by earning a 3 cent per share profit for the
company’s fiscal third quarter. Ameritrade closed Monday at 12 9/32 and is
trading up to 13 3/32 in pre-market activity.
From Monday
Internet content delivery company Akamai
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PowerRating) said that surging
revenues helped it book second quarter losses of 50 cents per share, which were
narrower than the 57 cent per share loss that First Call/Thomson Financial had
expected. Despite topping estimates, Akamai is trading down in pre-market
activity. The company closed down 9 1/8 to 107 7/8 on Monday and is off another
7 3/8 to 100 1/2 in pre-market action.
Pfizer
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PowerRating) announced that strong sales of its cholesterol drug Lipitor
helped the company earn 23 cents per share for the second quarter, and that
topped First Call/Thomson Financial estimates by a penny. Pfizer closed Monday
up 1 7/8 to 47 3/4 and helped the drug stocks finish as the day’s top sector.