Wall Street Beat: Earnings fail to spark confidence
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Earnings reports from IBM, Intel, and AMD and acquisition news from Oracle and Sun did nothing to calm IT investor fears about an uncertain U.S. economy this week.The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index has gotten off to its slowest start in years. Even though the Nasdaq finished 2007 up by 9.8 percent for the year, it has been sliding steadily in the past few weeks.More analysts are starting to forecast a recession. U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, testifying Thursday before the House Budget Committee, warned that the risks of an economic downturn are growing. Though he said an economic stimulus package, including low interest rates, could help avoid recession, IT investors are clearly worried. After President George Bush endorsed some of Bernanke&#39;s comments about stimulus, a Friday morning market rally fizzled out by the end of the day.IBM, which issued a preliminary earnings report Monday and its full results Thursday, had good news for its investors.&#160;IBM said that it would post $28.9 billion in revenue for the 2007 quarter, a 10 percent jump from the same period one year earlier. Fourth-quarter earnings are $2.80 per share, up 24 percent and above analyst expectations. But the company said results were helped mainly by strong sales in Asia, Europe, and emerging markets -- not the U.S.IBM shares rose $5.26 to close at $102.93 Monday when it issued its preliminary report and sparked a temporary jump in tech stocks overall. But ultimately most technology companies did not fare well on the market this week.AMD on Thursday reported a loss for the fourth quarter&#160;due mostly to charges connected to its acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI. AMD had a net loss of $1.8 billion and revenue of only $1.8 billion. Because the loss was smaller than expected, the beleaguered chip maker was rewarded in a down market Friday, when its shares rose by $0.70 to close at $7.04Meanwhile,&#160;Intel Tuesday announced a revenue increase for the fourth quarter that fell short of analysts&#39; estimates, in part due to weak prices for memory chips. The company said revenue was $10.7 billion, up 10.5 percent, but missed the $10.8 billion estimated by analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Intel shares lost $2.81 Wednesday to close at $19.88, further declining during the rest of the week.The Intel first-quarter revenue outlook is particularly disappointing, according to CitiGroup Capital Markets analyst Glen Yeung. Yeung expects a downward revision of the 2008 revenue outlook because while Intel is benefiting from market share gains against AMD, the U.S. economy is having a worse impact than expected.Acquisitions did provide some excitement this week.&#160;Oracle Wednesday announced a deal to buy BEA Systems for about $8.5 billion. Oracle shares gained $0.61 to close at $21.92 Wednesday on the news, flattening out over the rest of the week in the down market. The deal makes Oracle the biggest player in middleware, ahead of even IBM, pointed out JMP securities analyst Patrick Walravens in a research note.Sun&#39;s $1 billion acquisition of MySQL, also announced Wednesday, was looked on favorably by traders as well. Sun is buying an open-source database used by some of the most widely trafficked Web sites in the world, such as Facebook and Google. Sun also said that next week it expects to report net income of $89 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared to a loss of $56 million for the same period in 2006. Sun shares gained $0.55 Wednesday to close at $15.53, and rose slightly over the rest of the week even as most other stocks declined.
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U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday, as optimism about technology profits helped cancel out worries about how much the credit crunch has hurt the economy, after disappointing earnings from Bank of America.
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U.S. stocks finished slightly higher  on Monday as investors bet on good earnings news as the  fourth-quarter reporting season kicks off -- although hopes  were muted after the closing bell as Dow component Alcoa Inc.  AA.N posted profits below Wall Street's expectations.
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Wall Street stocks were mixed on Friday after Cognizant's upbeat earnings guidance provided a boost to the technology sector but as credit market and economic jitters continued to unsettle wary investors.
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Stocks slipped as Wall Street, still pleased about the Federal Reserveâs rate cut but sobered a bit by mixed earnings reports, stopped to cash in profits from this week.
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U.S. stocks shot higher on Tuesday,  reversing a four-day losing streak, as earnings from companies  like Johnson & Johnson and positive consumer confidence data  pleased Wall Street.
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A discouraging report on home sales wiped out early gains on Wall Street.
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WALL Street weathered a variety of bad news this week, managing a positive showing by the blue-chip Dow Jones and broader S&amp;P 500.
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NEW YORK - Strong earnings from financial services companies and upbeat economic data pushed stocks higher Tuesday, but many investors clung to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates, expected later in the session.    In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 13.42, or 0.1 percent, at 10,218.31...
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A doubling of earnings, but no jump in stock price?
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London shares closed higher as Wall Street remained firm after a slew of companies reported upbeat earnings, with UK miners helping to fuel the blue chips.
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Wall Street&#39;s earnings growth, fuelled by two years of robust trading gains, is showing signs that it might taper off in coming quarters as a sluggish stockmarket and a less favourable trading environment take a toll on profits.
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Earnings expectations were trounced, but projections don't measure up.
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US stocks were higher on Thursday after some positive housing data surprised investors and an array of upbeat earnings helped to dispel concerns about the economy.
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Wall Street was mixed on Monday as investors trimmed the market&#39;s early gains and adopted a cautious outlook before this week&#39;s earnings reports.
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U.S. stocks rose  on Tuesday as  better-than-expected corporate earnings and positive consumer  confidence data lifted the mood on Wall Street a day after  major indexes hit November lows.
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Wall Street pulled back sharply Tuesday as investors dealt with disappointing earnings reports and renewed concerns about the mortgage lending market.