U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, indicating markets could start on a positive note after two days of declines. Good results from Hewlett-Packard helped lift sentiment, overshadowing financial sector concerns, despite new worries over Fannie and Freddie. Oil remained steady ahead of inventory report later today.Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) shares are rising over 3% in premarket trading after the computer maker reported a 14% rise in fiscal third-quarter earnings and issues current-quarter earnings guidance that exceeded analyst estimates. Tech shares could get a boost from H-P.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) remain in focus due to concerns that a government bailout of the two firms is inevitable and would mean wiping out investors. Freddie Mac on Tuesday was forced to pay its steepest borrowing premium in 10 years, which is raising fresh concerns about its ability to withstand the housing and credit crisis without government help.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is cutting fixed-price seller listing fees. eBay will now charge 35 cents to list any number of the same types of fixed-price items. This is a dramatic change from charging fees based on item price.
AppleInsider reports that Steve Jobs emailed a customer regarding reported crashes of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. His one line message said: "This is a known iPhone bug that is being fixed in the next software update in September." The problem has been plaguing several iPhone owners as their iPhone locked them out of their third-party apps.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Essar, India's third-largest mobile operator, in unconfirmed reports might sell Apple's iPhone 3G at 31,000 rupees or $708 for the 8GB model!
And if you missed Tuesday's analyst report on Apple, you might want to check it out, as it claims the iPhone devours market share.
Goldman Sachs restarted coverage on Target (NYSE: TGT), which reported Tuesday, with a Buy rating and $56 price target.
RBC Capital upgraded Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) from Sector Perform to Outperform and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) from Sector Perform to Top Pick.
In autos:
Ford (NYSE: F), in an attempt to boost employee morale and confidence, started showing them -- and let them drive -- the vehicles of the future that it hopes will pull it out of the financial basement.
Meanwhile, Toyota (NYSE: TM) is considering raising prices in Japan without a model makeover for the first time in three decades as it faces soaring costs.
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Before the bell: Futures sharply lower on Dubai's debt problems
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