Main market news here: Before the bell 7-23-07: Stocks to recover todayCitigroup upgraded Anheuser Busch (NYSE: BUD) and Belgium's InBev, saying there's a 70% chance of alliance between the two in two years. The analyst, Philip Morrisey, upgraded BUD to Hold from Sell and raised his price target by $4 to $52.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) begin their talks with United Auto Workers union today. The car companies need to cut labor costs as it could be crucial to their survival.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) shares are up 2.3% in premarket trading (7:52 am) after the company beat estimates on its quarterly financial results.
Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) reported a rise in second-quarter earnings on higher sales of its new vaccines and medicines. The company also raised its 2007 profit forecast as it sees continuing strong demand for its medicines. Merck earned $1.68 billion, or 77 cents per share. Excluding special items, Merck earned 82 cents per share, handily beating the Street's average forecast of 72 cents per share (according to Reuters Estimates). MRK shares are up 4% in premarket trading (7:56 am).
Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) posted a lower quarterly profit on Monday due to a charge. Second-quarter net income fell to $4.8 million, or 3 cents a share. Excluding the charge, earnings rose to $41.3 million, or 24 cents a share, boosted by strong demand for movie-related toys like Transformers and Spider-Man. Revenue climbed to $691.4. Analysts were looking for a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $647.8 million, according to Thomson Financial. HAS shares are up 1.3% in premarket trading (7:52 am).
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), the world's largest retailer, announced it will cut prices on 16,000 items, focusing on merchandise for the back-to-school season.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) will buy data center automation software company Opsware in a tender offer for about $1.6 billion, or $14.25 per share in cash.
Reporting Q2 today:
American Express (NYSE: AXP) is expected to post earnings of 86 cents a share.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is expected to post earnings of 23 cents a share.
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) is expected to post earnings of 42 cents a share.
The final book in the Harry Potter series sold an estimated 8.3 million copies (one of them to me) in its first 24 hours of sale, setting a new record for the book industry, according to U.S. publisher Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL). Top sellers included Borders, Wal-Mart, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) hosts an analyst meeting today which will focus on the company's technological research and development initiatives around the world. Analysts may be looking for information on the company's new product pipeline. GE also announced it has opened a branch office in Cambodia today to explore the country's offshore oil and gas potential.
Warren Buffett, tells us more!
Oil has dropped $13, so gasoline should drop 30 cents, Americans hope
Wal-Mart's new Supermercado concept could be huge
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-27-2007 @ 10:18AM
William Martin said...
If the UAW doesn't give Ford and GM enough concessions in upcoming talks it will be a sad day in America as we know it.