Before the bell: Oil, financials woes send futures lower Ambac Inc. (NYSE: ABK) and MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) are trading much lower in premarket trading after Moody's Investors Service cut their Aaa ratings. Moody's downgraded Ambac's insurance financial strength rating to Aa3, and MBIA's insurance financial strength rating was downgraded to A2.
Wachovia Corp (NYSE: WB) shares are trading over 3.5% lower in premarket trading after its investment unit has liquidated a fund that specialized in mortgage-backed securities worth $403 million, the Journal reported.
FORTUNE writer wonder how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) could target business customers next. Meanwhile, Tech Trader Daily writes that according to Oppenheimer, AT&T (NYSE: T) is paying a subsidy of $325 for the new 3G iPhone. The typical smartphone subsidy is about $200.
Wachovia Corp (NYSE: WB) shares are trading over 3.5% lower in premarket trading after its investment unit has liquidated a fund that specialized in mortgage-backed securities worth $403 million, the Journal reported.
FORTUNE writer wonder how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) could target business customers next. Meanwhile, Tech Trader Daily writes that according to Oppenheimer, AT&T (NYSE: T) is paying a subsidy of $325 for the new 3G iPhone. The typical smartphone subsidy is about $200.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) said Thursday it temporarily idled half the production at its Rockdale, Texas aluminum smelter due to disruptions in the supply of energy. The ongoing supply problems forced Alcoa to turn to the open market to secure power but local energy costs have surged to an unsustainable level, according to Alcoa.
Writedowns are not the sole domain of financials, it seems. Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F)'s and General Motors Corp (NYSE: GM)'s financial arms may need to write down $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, according to a Lehman Brothers analyst. Well, just what the automakers needed to compound their troubles.
And while most companies lay off workers these days, Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) announced Thursday it will hire 1,200 people for a customer and technical service center in Conway. The center should open by the end of 2009, so it's quite some time away though.
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