Before The Show

7/22/2005 6:58:03 AM Continuing the caution that sent the major averages
modestly lower on Thursday, the futures are down early Friday morning. With no
economic data scheduled to be released on Friday, earnings will be the main
focus of attention for much of the morning-though there will be far fewer
reports on Friday than there has been in the other days this week.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB) reported earnings for the second quarter of $0.95 per
share, excluding $0.07 per share for repatriation of foreign earnings. In the
same period last year, the company earned $0.90 per share, including $0.02 per
share from discontinued operations. The company also revealed a program to
accelerate investments in targeted growth opportunities, streamline its
worldwide manufacturing operations and enhance efficiency and cost effectiveness
of its administrative operations. The company said the program will lead to
charges of $625-$775 million over the next 3 and a half years. Looking ahead,
Kimberly-Clark revealed that it now expects earnings for the full year of
$3.77-$3.83 per share, narrowing its previous guidance range of $3.70-$3.85 per
share.

Late Thursday, Halliburton (HAL) reported a second-quarter profit from
continuing operations of $0.76 per share, compared to a loss of $0.13 per share
last year. Last year’s results included a loss of $200 million from the
Barracuda-Caratinga EPIC project. The company revealed that quarterly revenue
increased 4% to $5.2 billion.

Early Friday morning, Schlumberger (SLB) announced second-quarter earnings from
continuing operations of $0.78 per share, up from $0.49 per share last year.
Revenue for the period was $3.43 billion, the company said, an increase compared
to last year’s mark of $2.83 billion.