Stock futures were lower this morning as oil rose back above $110 a barrel and investors awaited a barrage of economic data due today including weekly oil inventories. Other economic indicators include data on employment, manufacturing and productivity. Also, retailers will be announcing August same-store sales. Overall, sales are expected to rise 2%. Meanwhile, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank are deciding their interest rate policy today, where the ECB could tighten.The first of the retailers has already reported August sales. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) said sales increased 3% in August, beating its forecast. Seems discounts drew shoppers. WMT shares are up over 1% in pre-market.
Unfortunately for Boeing (NYSE: BA), The International Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, which represents nearly 27,000 machinists, voted to strike as they rejected Boeing's contract offer. The union, however, postponed the strike by 48 hours as the two parties go to mediation. Boeing will likely suffer from a strike at a time it's struggling to stand by its Dreamliner obligations. BA stock is down over 1% in pre-market.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) shares stand to rise after it finally reached an agreement with its billionaire Russian partners have over TNK-BP. While BP remains with a 50% holding in the venture, it has made many concessions, including agreeing to have the CEO Dudley leave. Shares are up over 2% in pre-market.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) reported its fourth straight quarterly loss amounting to $29.3 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a profit of $26.5 million, or 16 cents, a year earlier. This, however, beat estimates of a loss of 35 cents per share. The company, which was hurt by declining sales arising from higher mortgage rates and the deepening housing recession, said it couldn't predict when the housing market will recover. Shares are declining over 2.5% in pre-market.
Unilever NV/PLC (NYSE: UN, UL) said Thursday it will appoint Paul Polman, currently an executive for Nestle SA, as chief executive officer. Lehman Brothers downgraded UL from Equal Weight to Underweight. Stock is jumping over 5% in pre-market.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) cut the prices for its Xbox 360 consoles to $199 in the U.S. on Wednesday, making it the lowest priced next-generation gaming console. Analysts say that generally a price below $200 has historically triggered more widespread adoption.
MarketWatch video has more on the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) event and the expected revamps of the iPod lineup.
Analyst calls:
- Goldman Sachs removed United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) from their Conviction Buy List.
- Credit Suisse downgraded Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) from Neutral to Underperform.
- Deutsche Bank downgraded Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) from Buy to Hold, saying no near-term upside likely. Credit Suisse initiated Marvell with Neutral.
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