Before the bell: Futures lower ahead of data; dollar's decline in focusFord Motor Co. (NYSE: F) shares are down over 3.5% in premarket trading after the carmaker shares were downgraded by Citigroup from Hold to Sell.
Also, today car manufacturers will release February auto sales figures. A a large decline is expected for the month when compares to year ago sales due to consumers scaling back on discretionary spending as a result of economic conditions. Analysts expect total U.S. auto market is expected to fall some 7% from a year ago. General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) sales may decline 14%, Ford's could decline as much as 16% and Chrysler should post 19% lower sales, according to a Goldman Sachs analyst.
Ars Technica surveyed stores across the U.S. over the weekend and found that supplies of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s recently released MacBook Air is thin to nonexistent. Even shipping times for models bought on Apple's website are 5-7 days with some markets like Boston, Chicago and New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles store are out of stock. Could it be that the MacBook Air will surprise investors with much higher sales? [Via Fortune].
Meanwhile Bank of America lowered Apple's price target from $180 to $160, keeping its Buy rating on the stock.
eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) warned in an annual report on Friday that it faces difficulty getting former customers to return acknowledged that its main auction business faces slowing growth. Adding to the normal challenge of attracting new users to its sites eBay cited "changing customers demands."
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) announced a new Intel Atom processor and Intel Centrino Atom processor, "a new family of low-power processors designed specifically for mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and a new class of simple and affordable Internet-centric computers arriving later this year." Intel sees much growth opportunities with this type of processor.
Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) said on Sunday that it received a $335 million contract to supply a communications network and related services to a Saudi Arabian member of Kuwait's Zain Group.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) shares are up over 2.2% in premarket trading after BMO Capital Markets upgraded the shares from Underperform to Market Perform.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-05-2008 @ 1:18PM
gumby said...
There is nothing to talk about GM and Ford already made UAW buyouts as part of impending bankruptcy plans.... UAW knew that GM and Ford are already dead so they stripped them out of pockets before the undertakers (shareholders) get any dime
3-05-2008 @ 1:19PM
gumby said...
GM and Ford had been losing market share yet they are handing out cash to UAW purses ever since I can remember when... They cant do both giving and competiting with the almighty Tokyo!! What it tell me is that GM and Ford is already undergoing bankruptcy proceedings and UAW doesnt wish to miss the party!! Shareholders not invited!!!