U.S. stock futures fell Friday morning, after two days of gains and ahead of some economic data that will likely show further economic distress. The economic releases are: the employment cost index for q3, personal income and spending for September, the Chicago manufacturing PMI and the University of Michigan's consumer confidence for October. Global stocks generally declined Friday as oil again dropped below $65 a barrel to around $63.50. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.3%, which was less than expected, causing the Nikkei to drop by 5%.Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is due to report this morning, following Exxon Mobil's (NYSE: XOM) record profit reported Thursday.
Burger King (NYSE: BKC) reported first quarter earnings of 38 cents per share, ex-items, below the consensus of 39 cents. Revenues came in at $674 million, versus the consensus of $667.6 million.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) shares dropping 14% in after-hours trading after it posted a wider loss and reduced its annual forecast. The game maker also announced layoffs.
Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) on Thursday reported a $1.68 billion fiscal first-quarter loss due to charges, but sales also fell more than 7% from a year ago. In all, ex-items, the company would have lost $65 million, or 9 cents a share on revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter. Shares were down 3% in after-hours.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), which have been trying to finalize an internet search advertising partnership deal for some time now, may decide to let it go as soon as next week, according to The Wall Street Journal after meeting with the Justice Department Thursday where they were unable to reach an agreement that would allow them to proceed with the proposed deal..
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) - according to Detroit Free Press, the merger between GM and Chrysler will likely be put on hold until after the elections as the Treasury stopped talking to automakers. GM shares declined in Frankfurt over 7%.
GM is expected to show as much as a 50% sales decline in October. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Chrysler and Nissan Motors (NASDAQ: NSANY) are all expected to post declines of about 35%, according to analysts, while Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) may do somewhat better. Meanwhile, Ford plans to rehire 1,000 employees to a truck plant in Dearborn, Mich., saying it expects growing demand for its new F-150 pickup truck.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are declining some 1.3% in premarket trading after closing 6.2% higher Thursday. In Apple news, International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) sued a top executive on Thursday to prevent him from joining Apple.
Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) said in a regulatory filing that the recent financial crisis could have a negative impact on its chipmaking business. INTC shares are down 2.5% in premarket and could affect other technology shares.
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