Before the bell: Futures higher after Ford's surprise profit, ahead of data

Posted Jul 23rd 2009 7:40AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Earnings Reports, Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Ford Motor (F), Market Matters, McDonald's (MCD), AT and T (T), 3M Corporation (MMM), American Express (AXP), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Economic Data, Oil

U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday morning after Ford reported a surprise earnings and following some mergers-and-acquisition activity. Another fresh wave of earnings releases awaits investors today, as well as jobless, homes data.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) surprised Wall Street this morning when it posted a profit in the second-quarter of $2.3 billion due mainly to a huge gain for debt reduction. While Ford would have reported a loss of $424 million, or 21 cents per share, without special items, the loss is still far smaller than the 50 cents analysts had expected.

Other earnings this morning include AT&T (NYSE: T), 3M (NYSE: M) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) this morning and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and American Express (NYSE: AXP) after the close.
Meanwhile, some M&A activity also helped boost sentiment with Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) buying biotech company Medarex (NASDAQ: MEDX) for $2.4 billion and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) buying Zappo.com shoe store.

Two economic indicators will be released today. The first, at 8:30 a.m., is the weekly report on jobless claims, and the second, at 10:00 a.m. is June existing home sales.

Overseas, Asian stocks finished higher, but European stock markets fell modestly Thursday. Meanwhile, oil prices remained above $65 a barrel on Thursday as traders looked to stock markets for direction following a mixed inventory report Wednesday.

Tags: featured, medx