Solid Earnings; Stocks Shrug
Despite a flurry of generally better-than-expected earnings, stocks are
looking soggy at the open Wednesday, as traders await a Thursday-scheduled
speaking engagement of Alan Greenspan.
The Dow futures are down 13 points, and the Nasdaq futures are down 40.50
points.
The S&Ps look to open down 4.60 points while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury note has increased to 6.17%.
Earnings News
Citigroup
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PowerRating) earned 87 cents per share during the second quarter, beating
the 83 cents per share that analysts had expected. Citigroup also announced a
4-for-3 stock split. The banking and financial services powerhouse closed
Tuesday up 5/16 to 66 11/16.
Online broker E*Trade
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PowerRating) announced third quarter earnings of 2 cents
per share, which improved greatly upon the same year-ago quarter when the
company lost 8 cents per share. E*Trade closed Tuesday down 1 7/8 to 17 7/8 and
is trading up to 18 9/16 in pre-market activity.
Tellabs
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PowerRating) topped First Call/Thomson Financial second quarter
earnings estimates of 37 cents per share by 2 cents, thanks to surging sales of
optical networking products during the company’s second quarter. Tellabs closed
Tuesday at 73 1/4 but is trading down to 72 in pre-market activity.
Last Night
Microsoft
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PowerRating) posted second quarter earnings of 44 cents per share,
which beat the 42 cents per share that analysts polled by First Call/Thomson
Financial had expected. Despite the better-than-expected earnings, Microsoft is
trading down 2 points from Tuesday’s close to 76 7/16 in pre-market activity.
Intel
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PowerRating) also topped earnings forecasts with 50 cents per share
earnings that topped analyst projections by a penny. Intel closed Tuesday at 143
and is trading up to 144 1/2 in pre-market activity.
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