In Greenspan We Trust
As the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee two-day meeting gets underway in
Washington D.C., stocks are set to edge slightly lower at the open. The general
consensus is looking for no rate change by the Fed when its decision is
announced Wednesday at 2:15 PM.
The Nasdaq futures are down 7.50 points, and the Dow futures are flat.
The S&Ps look to open 1.30 points lower, while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury is holding steady at 6.10%.
Traders will be keeping an eye on the consumer confidence numbers for May to
see if any weakening has occurred among the driving force behind the recently
booming economy. April’s figure was 144.4 and analyst estimates look for a
decline to 139.7. The number will be released at 10:00 AM ET.
This Morning
America Online
(
AOL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it plans to use InterTrust Technologies
(
ITRU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) software and services for secure sending of media files for AOL
customers in conjunction with AOL 6.0. InterTrust, which traded as high as 99
3/4 on Feb. 15, closed Monday at 24 11/16 and has traded up to 26 1/4 in
pre-market activity.
Cereal giant General Mills
(
GIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted fiscal fourth quarter earnings of
37 cents per share, topping First Call/Thompson Financial estimates of 36 cents
per share and improving upon the same year-ago quarter of 33 cents. The maker of
such well-known brands as Cheerios and Lucky Charms closed Monday up 7/16 to 38
5/16.
Last Night
In earnings warning news, communications equipment maker Harmonic
(
HLIT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
said it expects its second quarter earnings to come in at 12 to 16 cents per
share, which is substantially lower than the 29 cents that First Call/Thomson
Financial anticipated. Harmonic closed Monday at 40 13/16 and is trading down to
25 3/8 in pre-market activity.
San Jose, Calif.-based Alliance Semiconductor
(
ALSC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it expects to
post better-than-expected earnings of 10 to 13 cents per share, topping the 6
cents per share analysts expect. Alliance’s first quarter ends July 1 and is
trading up to 30 1/2 following Monday’s 29 1/4 close.