Profit Soars at Oracle, Bear Stearns Reports First Ever Quarterly Loss

Stocks are mixed on Thursday, with the Dow and S&P 500 lower, while the Nasdaq is higher. Oracle’s impressive numbers are helping the Nasdaq, but Bear Stearns, which reported the first quarterly loss in the company’s history, highlights the ongoing problems for financial stocks.

Bear Stearns
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reported a loss in Q4 due to a $1.9 billion mortgage related write-down (read more).

ConAgra Foods
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reported a 15% rise in Q2 profit, and raised its full-year 2008 outlook (read more).

Boeing
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signed a 10-year deal, worth more than $1 billion, with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics (read more).

FedEx
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reported lower Q2 profit, mainly due to rising fuel costs and a slowing economy (read more).

Shares of Oracle
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are surging after the company posted a 35% jump in second quarter profit (read more).

Nike
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is also higher after the company reported a 10% rise in Q2 profit (read more).

Market Snapshot

Dow

-36.62 13170.45

NASDAQ

6.34 2607.35

S&P 500

-4.04 1448.96

Strongest/Weakest Industry Groups

Strongest Industries

% Change

Weakest Industries

% Change
Music & Video Stores
+4.44%
Surety & Title Insurance
-6.87%
Foreign Regional Banks
+3.31%
Mortgage Investment
-4.47%
Textile – Apparel Footwear & Accessories
+3.10%
Building Materials Wholesale
-2.65%

Economic
News

GDP-Final (Q3): Actual 4.9%, Consensus 4.9%

Initial Claims (12/15): Actual 346K, Consensus 335K