Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) reported earnings per share of 82 cents, but excluding restructuring charges, the pharmaceutical company said it earned 86 cents per share, topping analyst estimates of 83 cents per share. Revenue came in at $6.1 billion for the quarter, a decrease of 1% from the second quarter of 2007, but in line with estimates. Yet the stock is plummeting 10% in after-hours trading, after closing at $35.33, down 6.24% during the session.

This shouldn't really be surprising, Merck is not providing 2008 equity income guidance and any long-term financial performance guidance while it is assessing the effects on the Vytorin/Zetia drugs after the failed study result. It also lowered sales guidance for Gardasil, which may not be surprising. But what is surprising is that the drugmaker also lowered sales estimates for its allergy-fighting Singulair.

If investors thought Merck has its work cut out for it, this earnings report underscored the issue even more. Already punished 35% year-to-date, Merck shares will likely continue to be soft until a clear outlook can be seen. Right now, with so many open question and even the company not willing to make educated predictions, many will likely stay away.

Today was light on the economic front as far as impact numbers. The June leading economic indicators were down at -0.1%, and the May gain of +0.1% was revised lower to -0.2%. This shows little argument for a strengthening economy. Oil showed how it can still rise as tropical storm Dolly is in the Gulf of Mexico and no deal was reached with Iran, with prices back above $131.00 per barrel. Today was looking like a gain at the start, but the market slid as the day went on.

Below are today's unofficial closing bell index levels:

DJIA 11.467.67 (-28.90)
S&P 500 1259.72 (-0.96)
NASDAQ 2279.69 (-3.09)
10 YR T-NOTE 4.067% (-0.014%)
52-WEEK LOWS
Top Analyst Calls

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) showed a more than 4.6% gain at $28.80 in today's final minutes after the earnings report this morning came in far above lowered expectations. This stock is now up over 50% in a few days.

Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) said it will eliminate 1,200 U.S. sales jobs, about 15% of the drugmaker's sales force. This comes after last week the FDA rejected its experimental cholesterol pill Cordaptive.

The third-largest U.S. drugmaker has cut 8,100 jobs globally since the beginning of its restructuring plan, Plan to Win, in late 2005. But as Cordaptive, which was supposed to offset some of the losses Merck is expecting from generics coming into the market, fell through, the cost cutting side of the plan took on an added urgency.

Cordaptive and generics aren't Merck's only problem. The FDA also recently suggested its other cholesterol pills, Zetia and Vytorin, aren't any better than an older, cheaper treatment. Merck said it expects to lose as much as 61% of sales for these drugs.

So none of this comes as no surprise really; not in light of Merck's problems, and not in light of the industry's. Other drugmakers, including Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY), Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) have announced job cuts as they face more competition from generic substitutions. Merck is also planning some plant closures.

Merck's shares lost nearly 33% of their value year-to-date, as it was partly down with the overall market and partly due to the string of bad news that seemed to have hit most hard recently. It is trading not far from its 52-week low.

While Merck is saying it will still fight the FDA decision on Cordaptive and try to convince doctors about Vytorin, the actions it is taking seem reactive, not proactive. Without much to offer in its arsenal of upcoming possibilities, Merck, at least for now, seems to have lost the potential for meaningful growth.

Shares of Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) and Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) were obliterated today after a major study cast doubt on the effectiveness of their cholesterol-fighting drugs Vytorin and Zetia.

Schering-Plough fell $5, nearly 26%, to $14.47 in early afternoon trading while Merck plunged $6.67, or 15%, to $37.84. As the New York Times and other media outlets noted, the news from the American College of Cardiology couldn't have been much worse for investors.

A scientific panel said the drugs failed to slow the growth of plaques in arteries associated with heart attacks and strokes. It also urged physicians and patients to "rely more heavily on older cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, which have proven benefits and can be cheaper," according to the Times.

For Schering-Plough, the results are potentially devastating because both drugs account for about 70% of the company's profit, according to analysts' cited by the paper. You have to wonder how much longer Schering-Plough can remain independent.

About the only winners from this mess are the media companies. Those annoying commercials for the drugs helped fatten their bottom lines during a period of uncertain consumer spending. If the companies have any hope of salvaging these products, they are going to need to open up their checkbooks and buy lots and lots of advertising.

Freelance journalist Jonathan Berr writes and edits the blog Ketchup and Eggs.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• With a possible coming recession, J.C. Penney Company Inc (NYSE: JCP) CEO Myron "Mike" Ullman is expected to today announce plans to merge the buying and marketing operations for store and online sales and cut up to 200 jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that the warning from UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) that its write downs for 2007 would be $4B higher than forecast is an indicator that other Wall Street banks are still vulnerable to the subprime crisis; Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (NYSE: MER) may be the most vulnerable to the next wave of write downs.

WEB SITES:

• Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK) and Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) perform quite differently, despite jointly marketing Vytorin, Barron's reported. while Merck offers a golden opportunity for bargain hunters, Schering's prospects remain less certain with the company relying on Vytorin for more than one-third of its pretax profits, according to estimates from Lehman Brothers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched an investigation into both Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP).

The New York AG is concerned that both companies may have "deliberately concealed" negative results from a clinical trial for Vytorin, known as Enhance. Vytorin is a drug marketed to treat cholesterol.

According to the article, "the Enhance clinical trial cast doubt about whether Vytorin is better than a cheaper generic drug in slowing the progression of cardiovascular disease, even though Vytorin was more effective in reducing LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, which is a major risk factor for heart attacks."

Behind the issue is timing. According to the article, the Enhance trial was completed in April 2006, but the companies didn't disclose the results until January 2008. During that time, combined annual sales of Vytorin and a sister drug, Zetia, grew to more than $5 billion.

That's not chump change.

Both Merck and Schering-Plough are down pretty strongly off the news flow last week.

Cramer says to buy this extremism. What do you think?

Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) stock is trading lower today after the company announced that its cholesterol drug Vytorin failed to outperform the generic form of Zocor in reducing cholesterol in patients with a predisposition to high cholesterol. Analysts are mixed as to whether the outcome of this study will affect Vytorin sales, which was co-developed with Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP). If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on MRK.

After hitting a one-year low of $42.35 in February, the stock hit a one-year high of $61.62 in December. This morning, MRK opened at $59.88. So far today the stock has hit a low of $58.66 and a high of $59.88. As of 10:30, MRK is trading at $59.59, down $0.96 (-1.6%). The chart for MRK looks bullish but deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock its highest 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) were the most notable upgrades for the first trading session of 2007.

• Home Depot (NYSE: HD) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Hold with a $50 target at Raymond James, expecting that the worst is over in the housing market with hopes 2007 will be a better year.

• Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) was added to Stifel Nicolaus' Select List while maintaining its Buy rating, citing Google's growth rate as compared to its peers. Note that Stifel removed eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) from their Select List.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bear Stearns upgraded JB Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $27 target; the firm expects JB Hunt to Outperform its pure truckload competitors during the downturn and for a potential buyer to surface.

• Bear Stearns also upgraded Merck (NYSE: MRK) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $53 target, based on improved sales growth for Vytorin/Zetia, growth from Junuvia and vaccines, along with pipeline catalysts.

• Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $25 target, believing that tight inventory management favors margin improvement and that business at core stores have stabilized.

• Calyon upgraded UAL Corp (NASDAQ: UAUA) to Add from Neutral and raised their target to $48 from $35 based on good prospects for 2007.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).