Welcome to
the Reuters Before the Bell Newsmail.
Wal-Mart’s
price cuts aren’t just putting happy faces on customers.
They’re cheering up Wall Street with
better-than-expected earnings, although Lee Scott, the
chief executive of our friendly neighborhood
multinational behemoth, cautioned that its customers
were more cautious about their spending in
January.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, charges
are piling up, with Credit Suisse writing nearly $3
billion off its portfolio of asset-backed investments,
exacerbated by errors in its structured trading
business. Barclays boosted its 2007 writedown on the
value of risky assets to $3.1 billion.
In merger
news, the New York Times reported Delta Airlines has
moved closer to buying Northwest Airlines.
The
Dow Jones industrial average futures index rose 1
percent, or 111 points, in premarket trading, while U.S.
treasury prices slipped over night. The dollar sank to a
two-week low against the euro.
Crude oil rose for
the fourth straight day, helped by tensions between
Exxon Mobil and the Venezuelan government, who are
threatening to cut exports. Attacks in Nigeria have
raised concerns of further supply
disruptions.
The February NAHB/Wells Fargo
Housing Market index, due at 1 p.m., is expected to be
unchanged from January, indicating that homebuilding
sentiment has not improved.
Until
tomorrow,
Derek Caney
Newsmail
Editor
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Wal-Mart posts better-than-expected
profit
February
19, 2008 07:53 AM ET
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NEW
YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores on Tuesday posted a
better-than-expected quarterly profit as penny-pinching
U.S. shoppers scoured its discount stores for low prices
on necessities like food and laundry detergent to offset
tough economic conditions.
Full
Article | |
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Medtronic quarterly net
falls
February
19, 2008 07:31 AM ET
 |
CHICAGO
(Reuters) - Medical device maker Medtronic Inc on
Tuesday said quarterly earnings fell on charges related
to the acquisition of Kyphon.
Full
Article | |
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Banks "quietly" borrow $50 billion from Fed:
report
February
19, 2008 05:47 AM ET
 |
NEW
YORK (Reuters) - Banks in the United States have been
quietly borrowing "massive amounts" from the U.S.
Federal Reserve in recent weeks, using a new measure the
Fed introduced two months ago to help ease the credit
crunch, according to a report on the web site of The
Financial Times.
Full
Article | |
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Stock futures rise after Wal-Mart beats
estimates
February
19, 2008 07:36 AM ET
 |
NEW
YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher
market open on Tuesday after Wal-Mart Stores Inc
reported quarterly results that topped analysts'
expectations.
Full
Article | |
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OfficeMax profit climbs as expenses
fall
February
19, 2008 07:24 AM ET
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NEW
YORK (Reuters) - OfficeMax Inc , the nation's
third-largest office supplies retailer, posted a higher
quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by lower expenses
and improved margins.
Full
Article | |
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Toshiba to quit HD DVDs, ends format
war
February
19, 2008 07:28 AM ET
 |
TOKYO
(Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp surrendered in the
high-definition home movie war on Tuesday, giving up on
its HD DVD format after losing the support of key
studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed
by Sony Corp .
Full
Article | |
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Oil nears $98 on supply worries,
OPEC
February
19, 2008 06:24 AM ET
 |
LONDON
(Reuters) - Oil rose on Tuesday to the highest level in
a month, near $98 a barrel, driven by expectations that
supplies will be tight.
Full
Article | |
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GE to adjust accounting to end regulator
probe: report
February
19, 2008 03:54 AM ET
 |
NEW
YORK (Reuters) - U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co
is expected to make changes to its accounting policies
in a bid to end a U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission probe, the Wall Street Journal reported on
Tuesday citing people familiar with the
situation.
Full
Article | |
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UPDATE 1-Watsco Q4 profit falls, sees FY08
below Street view
February
19, 2008 08:12 AM ET
|
Feb
19 (Reuters) - Watsco Inc , a distributor of
airconditioning and heating products, posted
fourth-quarter profitthat was below market expectations,
hurt by softer marketconditions, adverse weather in
Texas and Florida and thecontinued slump in
homebuilding.
Full
Article | |
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UPDATE 1-Onyx posts wider-than-expected Q4
loss
February
19, 2008 08:05 AM ET
|
Feb
19 (Reuters) - Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc posteda
wider-than-expected quarterly loss, a day after it
andcollaborator Bayer Healthcare, a U.S.-based unit of
Bayer AG, stopped a late-stage trial of Nexavar for
non-smallcell lung cancer, sending shares down more than
20 percent.
Full
Article | |
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UPDATE 1-Marvel Q4 profit tops Street on
Spider-Man strength
February
19, 2008 08:00 AM ET
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Feb
19 (Reuters) - Marvel Entertainment Inc , whichlicenses
comic-book characters, posted a quarterly profit
thatbeat analysts' expectations as it continued to
benefit fromlicensing revenue from Spider-Man and saw
higher operatingmargins in its toys
segment.
Full
Article | |
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