Talks come ahead of Q4 report due Thursday
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Labor problems will intrude on the Magic Kingdom in the next week, days ahead of Walt Disney Co.&#39;s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report.
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Wall Street stocks were set to start Monday's session, the first of the fourth quarter, on a slightly stronger note, pushing toward new multi-year highs after a four-day rally stalled on Friday.
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Investors looking at Qualcomm&#39;s (QCOM:Nasdaq - news - research) fourth-quarter earnings report will be seeking a clear signal on the wireless sector.
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InfoWorld - IBM provided more details of its robust fourth-quarter and 2007 financial performance on Thursday following an early preview of the figures on Monday.
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Initial public offering, which is expected to raise more than $480 million, could be set for as early as Thursday.
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Wall Street was expected to open little  changed on Friday in cautious trade ahead of the monthly  employment report at 8:30 a.m. EST.
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North Carolina legislators are to discuss a proposed package of incentives for the PC maker during a session set for Thursday.
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Shares on Wall Street looked set for a  flat start on Wednesday after rising solidly in the previous  session on a bullish economic report and ahead of key data  later in the week.
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Shares looked set for a firmer start on Thursday, building on gains from the previous session ahead of key economic data. Investors also keenly await the Federal Reserve's rate decision and its statement.
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UK interest rates will most likely be kept on hold on Thursday, but analysts say it will be a very close decision.
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A new reporting period for company earnings kicks into gear next week, giving investors a bit of hard data to chew on, and markets could be volatile if the price of crude oil stays north of &#36;50 a barrel.
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IBM on Thursday provided more details of its robust fourth-quarter and 2007 financial performance, following an early preview of the figures on Monday.
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As the Federal Reserve warns about the risk of inflation, a report this Wednesday on fourth-quarter productivity could carry considerable weight.
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There&#39;s a report that the Securities and Exchange Commission and Time Warner are close to a settlement over accounting questions at the media giant&#39;s America Online unit.
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Shares on Wall Street looked set for a flat to slightly higher start on Thursday with key economic data ahead constraining trade.
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Microsoft&#39;s $1.2 billion acquisition bid for Oslo-based Fast Search and Transfer and a dour report on Amazon marked the new year&#39;s first full trading week in the United States, as technology company share prices continued to slide.The increase in tech share prices that occurred in 2007 -- a banner year for IT company earnings -- appears to be in danger of evaporating, as fears of a general downturn and bad news on the consumer front resound among industry insiders. U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke&#39;s announcement on Thursday that he would move to cut interest rates to spur growth provided only a temporary halt to a decline in the Nasdaq Composite Index, which closed Friday at 2,440, down 212 points from its close at the end of 2007.This week, investment banking firm Goldman Sachs forecast that the United States will suffer a recession this year. Company analyst David Kostin reduced his recommendation for the amount of technology stocks that investors should keep in their portfolios, from 19 percent to 15 percent.Investors usually like to keep a good percentage of their holdings in tech stocks to hedge their bets. IT companies are truly global, with major U.S. vendors earning about 50 percent of their revenue outside their home countries.But inside the United States, tech companies are getting hit with a double whammy: a predicted weakening of consumer spending because of falling home prices and a resulting crisis in financial markets. Up to 18 percent of U.S. and global tech spending comes from financial companies, according to Forrester Research.Turmoil in the financial markets will likely dampen tech buyouts from private equity investors, according to the 451 Group&#39;s Tech Banking Outlook Survey, released this week. But that might not stop cash-rich technology companies from continuing to shop for deals, it noted.On Tuesday,&#160;Microsoft announced that it would buy enterprise search software company Fast Search And Transfer&#160;for 6.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.2 billion). Microsoft said it will integrate Fast Search&#39;s high-end search technologies into its enterprise infrastructure offerings, including SharePoint Server 2007 business productivity platform.Microsoft is locked in a search battle with Google, not just for general Web searches but also for businesses. Fast Search shares got an immediate boost on the Oslo exchange, where its price jumped from 13.35 kroner to close at 18.80 kroner Tuesday. The deal did not keep Microsoft shares from sliding in a generally down market for tech, however.On the consumer side, investors were particularly spooked by comments on Tuesday from AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson, who said the company has had to stop servicing an increasing number of customers who did not pay their bills. The company closed Tuesday at $39.07, down by $1.96 for the day.The news did not bode well for other technology companies that sell to consumers. Citing uncertainty about U.S. consumer spending, American Technology Research Monday put a &quot;sell&quot; rating on Amazon, which then on Tuesday fell by $2.66 to close at $85.22 on the Nasdaq.Even companies that received positive reports from analysts this week were slammed by the general market slide. Lazard Capital Markets started its coverage of virtualization-software darling VMware, which had a successful IPO last month, by issuing a &quot;buy&quot; rating on Tuesday. VMware&#39;s share price jumped by $5.39 to close at $79.89 Wednesday, but slid back to $77.53 by the end of the week.
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A strategic update on the software giant's business is due Thursday, but analysts aren't expecting a repeat ofv surprises dished up last year.