Before the bell: Futures lower ahead of Fed, data; flurry of earnings on its way

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) reported a staggering $3.3 billion loss in its first-quarter, due in part to a weak U.S. market, a strike at a major supplier and plummeting sales of sport utility vehicles and pickups. While the loss amounted to $5.74 per share, GM's adjusted results are a loss of $350 million, or 62 cents per share, handily beating analysts' expectations of a $1.60 loss per share. Still, compared to last year, when the automaker had earned $62 million, or 11 cents a share, the results are far from stellar especially when considering that GM's revenue slipped despite being up 20% outside North America. GM shares are up about 3.5% in premarket trading.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) also reported a loss Wednesday morning, its fifth straight quarterly loss and said it expected annual revenues to fall while scaling back its market forecast for 2008. Shares of ALU are down nearly 8% in premarket trading.

According to Fortune, AT&T (NYSE: T) is planning to cut the price by as much as $200 on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone when the new 3G model comes out this summer. Subsidizing the phone by that much will cut the price to $199 to for customers who sign two-year contracts, the Fortune source says.

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) reported a 13% profit drop in its first quarter. Without one-time items, the company earnined 44 cents per share, beating estimates of 40 cents per share. Kraft now expects 2008 revenue growth of at least 5 percent, up from an earlier estimate of 4 percent growth.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is mulling it next move in the three-month-old takeover standoff with Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) as early as Wednesday, according to the WSJ. One option could be a proxy fight to replace Yahoo's board.

Meanwhile, American Airlines (NYSE: AMR) dealt in the past month with picketing pilots calling for his resignation, FAA inspectors grounding 300 aircraft, the merger of two large competitors, and $110-a-barrel oil that contributed to a $328 million loss for the first quarter. Analysts estimate it is losing $3.3 million a day. More on the airline industry and the recent merger mania in that AP piece.