Before the bell: Stock futures mixed as Microsoft resumes talks with Yahoo

Stock futures were mixed early Friday morning with the Nasdaq futures higher, given a boost by a new deal being discussed between Microsoft and Yahoo! Blue chip stock futures were lower after a new forecast the economy will weaken further and unemployment will rise.

U.S. stocks ended Friday little changed after consumer confidence data disappointed Wall Street again and high oil prices dampened the mood. For the week, though all the major indexes posted gains. The Dow industrials rose 1.9% for the week despite being down 0.05% Friday, the S&P 500 rose 2.7% for the week, helped by a 0.13% rise Friday, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 3.4%, including a 0.19% decline Friday.

At 10:00 a.m. EDT, April leading indicators, a lagging broad, general, indicator of economic activity, is expected to show minimal increase.
However, a survey was released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics giving their collective outlook on the U.S. economy. While, according to the survey economists believe the worst of the housing slump and the credit crunch might come to an end this year, a majority of economists now believe the economy is in a recession or on the brink of a recession and therefore they forecast further weakening of the economy and unemployment to continue to rise.