Before the bell: Street awaits Fed (V, DB, GM)Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) shares are dropping over 8% in premarket trading after it said its cholesterol pill Cordaptive failed to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, less than a week after it was recommended for marketing in the European Union. While Merck intends to submit more data to the FDA, it is unclear it will succeed given even some European doctors said more research is needed on one of the drug's main components safety.
Who said higher oil prices aren't good? If you ask Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) and BP (NYSE: BP), high oil prices are fantastic as the two oil giants beat forecasts when posting quarterly earnings Tuesday, reporting that net income, excluding unrealized gains from changes in inventory values, rose 12% to a record $7.8 billion and 48% to $6.6 billion respectively. Shell shares are climbing 5.7% in premarket trading and BP's over 4.8% as it seems investors think oil above $100 a barrel is here to stay.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), the world's largest grain processor, said third-quarter profit rose 42% to $517 million or 80 cents per share, topping analyst estimates of 69 cents per share, as it traded more grains and crushed more soybeans. Sales climbed 64% to $18.7 billion. Seems that being in agriculture lately is a positive and ADM shares are rising 3.75% in premarket trading.
We're still in the midst of earnings season, and today is a big day:
A day after Visa reported its first quarterly results, posting considerable growth, beating estimates but still disappointing investors, MasterCard (NYSE: MA) just reported results minutes ago. From first glance it seems that MA also handily beat expectations of earnings or $1.99 per share.
Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) is projected to post earnings of 2 cents a share in the first quarter, Valero (NYSE: VLO) -- 29 cents a share, CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) -- 33 cents a share, Corning (NYSE: GLW) -- 42 cents a share, Avon (NYSE: AVP) -- 43 cents a share and United States Steel (NYSE: X) -- $1.84 a share.
And good news everybody. Yes, I know Canada is a small market, despite its large land mass, but it's my market and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iPhone isn't here yet. Despite being the U.S.'s neighbor, the iPhone went to Europe first and only today it was announced by Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) it has reached an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. Always later ...XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) today announced that it has postponed its 2008 annual meeting of stockholders to a date when it has further information relating to its pending merger with SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI).
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