Recession fears to weigh on earnings reports
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A heavy gloom hanging over Wall Street  may deepen next week unless such bellwether companies as Apple  and United Technologies provide investors with hope that the  U.S. economy can avert recession.
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Financial markets traded cautiously on Friday ahead of a key U.S. jobs report that investors hope will give them some guidance on state of the U.S. economy and the future direction of interest rates.
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With the pace of corporate earnings  reports slowing, Wall Street will have its eye on consumer  prices and other economic indicators in this holiday-shortened  week.
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The US economic outlook has suddenly darkened in the wake of data showing a stalling of the job growth machine, raising risks that a housing slump will lead to a full-blown recession, analysts say.
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IF stock prices are supposed to reflect the underlying health of the economy, itâs easy to see why the market is off to such a tough start this year. Wall Street is worried that the economy is headed for its first recession in six years, so itâs only natural that investors are a little spooked.
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As earnings reports rolled in from technology bellwethers, including Microsoft, Apple, Nokia, and Motorola, worries about the economy continued to overshadow good news this week.The fourth quarter of 2007 was strong for IT sales, but a downturn in the U.S. economy, which many analysts fear is slipping into recession, is undermining investor confidence in the sector. Share prices of technology companies have dropped since the start of the year, with the Nasdaq Composite Index sinking to pre-2007 levels.Microsoft provided some cheer Thursday, reporting a strong quarter for core products such as Windows Vista and Office 2007. Revenue for the quarter increased 30 percent year over year to $16.37 billion.Just as important as many market observers fear the U.S. is entering a recession that will affect technology, Microsoft also raised its forecast for its fiscal year, which ends June 30. Noting that Office and video game sales are doing better than expected, the company said it expects revenue for its fiscal year in the range of $59.9 billion to $60.5 billion. Three months ago, the forecast was $58.8 billion to $59.7 billion.The report, however, provided only a momentary uptick in Microsoft shares and the Nasdaq, even though other news on the software front was good.Enterprise database vendor Sybase, for example, said Thursday that it had its first billion-dollar sales year in seven years, helped by a 15 percent jump in revenue for the fourth quarter to $295.2 million. What&#39;s more, its forecast for this quarter remains strong.&quot;We have a balance in our product portfolio and a balance geographically as well,&quot; said company Chief Marketing Officer Raj Nathan.Though Sybase has a stronghold in the financial vertical market -- a sector that is in trouble -- Nathan pointed out that the company is strong in the telecom arena as well, does about 50 percent of its business outside the U.S., and is developing new analytics products that will help financial companies manage risk and do program trading.The company was one of the few that ended the week on a happy note with its share price increasing by $0.56 to close Friday at $27.44.Other companies did not fare so well, as investors jumped on any scrap of bad news.&#160;Apple got hit hard even though it reported quarterly revenue of $9.6 billion, a whopping 35 percent year-over-year increase. Investors were spooked about slowing iPod sales and a weak forecast for this quarter. iPod shipments of 22.1 million were about 10 percent below what had been expected.Apple shares plunged, dropping from $161.36 last Friday to $130.01 this Friday.Motorola had a rough week, reporting Tuesday an 84 percent plunge in income for the fourth quarter&#160;to $100 million and warning that its market-share losses would continue as the U.S. market -- the company&#39;s cell-phone stronghold -- continues to slump until next year. Company shares dropped $2.27 to hit $10.05 Wednesday on the news, and stayed below $11 through the week.&quot;Management&#39;s view of [a] recovery being a 2009 event pushes the recovery further past the horizon most investors are willing to hear at this point,&quot; said Citigroup Global Markets in a research report.Nokia, with hit products and a strong presence in Asia, on Thursday reported a 44 percent rise in profit for the fourth quarter, to &#8364;1.84 billion ($2.7 billion), on a 34 percent sales increase. A slump in U.S. sales was more than offset elsewhere. Nokia shares jumped Thursday on the news, rising $4.05 to close at $36.48 -- and then fell right back down Friday after IDC issued a report that suggested Nokia&#39;s confidence in 2008 was misplaced.In an economy that has investors focusing on the bad news, it&#39;s going to take some evidence of strong sales in the current quarter to bring confidence -- and tech share prices -- back up to where they were. The Nasdaq finished 2007 up by 9.8 percent, but in the first four weeks of this year, last year&#39;s gain has been wiped out with the index closing Friday almost 300 points down from the end of December.
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Although several of the nationâs biggest banks reported some of their best results ever this week, investors are worried about tougher times ahead.
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Investors were cautious after a series of negative reports from companies that are considered barometers for the economy.
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Investors are looking for an onslaught of company earnings and economic data this week to give direction to U.S. stocks after some early signs of slower profit growth got the year off to an uncertain start.
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With the pace of corporate earnings reports slowing, Wall Street will have its eye on consumer prices and other economic indicators in this holiday-shortened week.
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Wall Street may put the brakes on a  steep decline next week, when a rate cut is anticipated from  the Fed, and Friday's monthly jobs data may trigger a comeback  for stocks after their January funk.
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Heading into the heart of earnings season next week the expected results look robust, but a slowing of future profit growth and the impact of surging oil prices on the economy could conspire to hold down stocks.
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A new reporting period for company  earnings kicks into gear this 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 $50 a barrel.
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An unsettling report on consumer incomes set off a spate of profit-taking on Wall Street Monday as investors worried that a tepid economy would erode companies' third-quarter earnings. Another drop in oil prices failed to shake the gloom from the market.
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The start of 2008 has brought a harsh reality to Wall Street: The U.S. may indeed be headed toward recession.
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Heading into the heart of earnings  season this week the expected results look robust, but a  slowing of future profit growth and the impact of surging oil  prices on the economy could conspire to hold down stocks.
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Anticipating a slowdown, investors are wary of paying high stock prices. Firms lower earnings expectations, too.