Shares of major U.S. banks were trading higher following Obama's administration plan for 'bad banks': Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) shares gained 22% in premarket, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) shares gained 19%, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) shares gained 8%, and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) shares were 5% higher in premarket trading. Bank shares continue to gain during the session by at least as much as the premarket indicated. European banks also gained.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted a net loss $56 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.03 billion, or $1.36 a share, a year earlier. Sales decreased 27% to $12.7 billion during the quarter that also saw a strike shut factories and faulty parts slowed efforts to restart production. Excluding charges, Boeing earned 62 cents a share, well below analyst estimates of 78 cents according to Bloomberg. Shares were a little lower in premarket trading. BA shares ended up trading higher, about 2% by 11 am.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is also due to report today -- Conoco beats estimates but has $31.8B writedown -- shares traded about 1% higher by 11 am.
Others that have reported include:
Wells Fargo swings to 4Q loss - WFC shares gained over 22% in premarket trading. In the regular session, WFC shares soared about 25% by 11 am.
WellPoint 4Q profit dives on investment loss - WLP shares were 3.8% lower in premarket trading. WLP shares traded some 6.5% higher by 11 am.
SAP says profit down 2 pct in '08, axes 3,000 jobs - SAP shares gained over 7.5% in premarket trading. SAP shares gained about 5.5% by 11 am.
Novartis posts 62 pct rise in 4Q net profit - NVS shares were 3.6% lower in premarket trading. NVS shares were down nearly 6% by 11 am.
Sun Micro beats consensus, shares rally - JAVA shares gained over 8.2% in premarket trading. JAVA shares jumped about 15% by 11 am.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, as the broker thinks it has outperformed enough compared to peers. XOM shares traded 1% higher in premarket action. XOM shares reversed direction and were lower by 11 am.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and General Electric Capital Corp.'s Aaa ratings were put on review for possible downgrade by Moody's. GE shares indicated higher in premarket trade. Despite the downgrade threat, GE shares traded nearly 5% higher by 11 am.


United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight by Morgan Stanley, with the broker saying the stock is one of the most expensive it covers and saying it has earnings risk.

Wal-Mart's (NYSE: WMT) U.K. supermarket chain, Asda, plans to create around 7,000 new jobs in 2009.