Soft Open
Stocks look to ease slightly at the open after a consumer price figure a tad
ahead of expectations. June’s Consumer Price Index came in showing a 0.6%
increase which was 0.1% higher than analysts expected, but the core rate rose
the anticipated 0.2%.
The Dow futures are down 45 points, and the Nasdaq futures are down 25
points.
The S&Ps look to open down 3.10 points while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury remains unchanged at 6.15%.
Earnings reports are expected after the close from Microsoft
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PowerRating) and
Intel
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PowerRating).
Morning Earnings
Full-service brokerage house Merrill Lynch
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PowerRating) posted fiscal second
quarter earnings of $2.01 per share, beating First Call/Thomson Financial
estimates of $1.70 per share. The company also said it will split its stock
2-for-1 on Aug 31. Merrill closed Monday down 3 17/32 to 131 31/32 but is
trading as high as 136 1/2 on Instinet.
Johnson & Johnson
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PowerRating) announced better-than-expected second quarter
earnings of 94 cents per share, topping First Call/Thomson Financial estimates
by 2 cents. Johnson & Johnson closed Monday at 94 11/32 and is currently bid
at 94.
General Motors
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PowerRating) posted second quarter earnings of $2.93 per share,
topping analyst estimates of $2.82 per share. GM closed Monday at 60 3/8,
significantly off its April high of 94 5/8.
Yesterday’s Movers
Qualcomm
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PowerRating) rose 6 3/4 to 69 13/16 Monday after gaining patent
victories in Europe and Japan for its CDMA technology standard. The wireless
giant is trading up to 69 7/16 in pre-market activity.
Internet portal Go2Net
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PowerRating) posted second quarter earnings of 22 cents
per share, topping First Call/Thomson Financial estimates of 15 cents per share.
Go2Net closed Monday up 4 1/4 to 58 and is trading up to 59 in pre-market
activity.