Latest News In Stock Market Investment Research – Jan 30, 2009

Please note it is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, opinion or advice contained in the content below.

U.S. stock futures flat to weaker fall after GDP data

30 Jan 2009 at 6:41am

MADRID (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures were trading mixed after data showed the U.S. economy contracted at a lesser pace than feared. The U.S. economy contracted at a 3.8% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. This is the largest contraction since the first quarter of 1982. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting a negative 5.5% growth rate in the fourth quarter. Stock futures briefly turned higher, then returned to negative. S&P Futures [s:spy] fell 2.4 points to 840, Nasdaq 100 futures [s:qqqq] fell 1 point to 1,205 and Dow industrial futures fell 26 points to 8,086.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Chevron net income edges up after one-time gains

30 Jan 2009 at 6:37am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Chevron Corp. on Friday said fourth-quarter net income edged up to $4.90 billion, or $2.44 a share, from $4.88 billion, or $2.32 a share in the year-ago period. The latest period included a $600 million gain on an asset exchange transaction as well as a $478 million boost from currency exchange. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected Chevron to earn $1.82 a share. Revenue fell to $43 billion from $60 billion. Exploration and production profit dropped to $3.15 billion from $4.84 billion. Refining and marketing profit rose to $2.1 billion from $204 million. “Fourth-quarter earnings for our downstream business improved as the lower cost of crude-oil feedstocks used in the refining process helped boost margins on the sale of gasoline and other refined products,” said Chairman and CEO Dave O’Reilly. “Lower quarterly profits for our upstream operations reflected a sharp decline in crude-oil prices from a year ago.”

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Treasurys stay up after GDP not as bad as feared

30 Jan 2009 at 6:35am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasurys remained higher early Friday after a government report said the U.S. economy shrunk 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the worst since 1982. Yields on two-year notes , which move inversely to the price, fell 6 basis points to 0.90%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected gross domestic product to contract 5.5% in the three months ended in December. The report’s inflation measure excluding food and energy, closely watched by the Federal Reserve, rose 0.6% in the quarter. Still to come is a survey forecast to show consumer sentiment deteriorated this month.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Oil futures rise after better-than-expected GDP

30 Jan 2009 at 6:35am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Oil futures rose early Friday after a report showed that the U.S. economy contracted less than expected in the fourth quarter. Crude oil for March delivery rose 69 cents, or 1.6%, to $42.12 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. The U.S. economy contracted at a 3.8% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. This is the largest contraction since the first quarter of 1982. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting a negative 5.5% growth rate in the fourth quarter.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Employment costs rise at slowest pace on record in 2008

30 Jan 2009 at 6:31am

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – U.S. employment costs rose at the slowest pace in at least 26 years in 2008, the Labor Department reported Friday, a sign that rising unemployment was keeping a lid on wages and benefits. Employment costs increased 0.5% in the final three months of the year, down from 0.7% in the third quarter. For the entire year, employment costs increased 2.6%, the lowest since the government began tracking the data in 1982. In the third quarter, wages and salaries for civilian workers increased 0.5%, the slowest in four years. Benefit costs increased 0.4%. For the entire year, wages and salaries for civilian workers increased 2.7% and benefit costs rose 2.2%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

U.S. GDP contracts at 3.8% pace in fourth quarter

30 Jan 2009 at 6:30am

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. economy contracted at a 3.8% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. This is the largest contraction since the first quarter of 1982. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting a negative 5.5% growth rate in the fourth quarter. The weakness in the fourth quarter was masked by a buildup in inventories, which adds to output even if they are unwanted. Real final sales for domestic product, which excludes inventories, decreased 5.1% in the fourth quarter. This is the biggest drop since 1980. Inflation moderated in the fourth quarter. The core consumer prices increased as a 0.6% rate in the quarter, and rose 2.2% for the year. Headline PCE declined at a record 5.5% in the fourth quarter. For all of 2008, the economy grew at a 1.3% rate, the weakest since 2001.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Gold rises to six-month high on safe-haven buying

30 Jan 2009 at 6:24am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rose Friday to the highest level in six months as forecasts that the U.S. economy has contracted the most since 1982 increased safe-haven buying. Gold for February delivery was last up $15.80, or 1.8%, at $920.90 an ounce. Earlier it rose to $927.50, the highest since July. Analysts expect government data to show U.S. gross domestic product shrunk 5.5% in the fourth quarter.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Wilmington Trust posts deficit as loan-loss provisions soar

30 Jan 2009 at 6:23am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – Wilmington Trust on Friday said it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter as the value of its investments fell at the same time it more than tripled loan loss provision in the period. The company said it lost $68.5 million, or $1.02 a share, compared to a profit of 44 million, or 66 cents a share. The company said loan-loss provisions rose to $67.5 million in the quarter from $19.6 million last year.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

American Axle & Manufacturing’s loss widens

30 Jan 2009 at 6:23am

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. on Friday said its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $112.1 million, or $2.17 a share, from $26.8 million, or 52 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. AAM said the latest quarter’s results included a tax expense provision of $69.5 million. Net sales dropped to $503 million from $755.2 million.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Arch Coal profit down 23% vs. year-earlier gain

30 Jan 2009 at 6:21am

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Arch Coal Inc. said Friday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 23% compared with a year-earlier quarter that included a gain related to deferred tax assets. Net income was $62.3 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with a profit of $81.4 million, or 56 cents, in the fourth quarter of 2007. Revenue rose to $729.9 million from $644.4 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research were expecting a profit of 40 cents a share.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Simon Property FFO up 6.5% in quarter

30 Jan 2009 at 6:22am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Simon Property Group Inc. said Friday that its funds from operations in the fourth quarter were $541 million, or $1.86 a share, compared to $508 million, or $1.76 a share, in the same period a year ago. Results in the most recent quarter include a 7-cents-a-share charge. Revenue was $1.03 billion compared to $1.04 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, revenue of $1.03 billion. The company sees 2009 FFO in a range of $6.40 to $6.60 a share.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Exxon Mobil profit falls 33% on lower oil prices

30 Jan 2009 at 6:13am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday said fourth-quarter net income fell 33% to $7.82 billion, or $1.55 a share from $11.66 billion, or $2.13 a share in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research forecast earnings of $1.52 a share. The world’s largest corporation and component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average said lower oil prices impacted its profit by about $3.2 billion. Capital and exploration spending rose 11% to $6.8 billion. Oil equivalent production fell 3%. Excluding the impacts of lower entitlement volumes, OPEC quota effects and divestments, production fell 1%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

J.P. Morgan cuts Allstate, says short-term oulook bleak

30 Jan 2009 at 6:09am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — J.P. Morgan Chase analysts on Friday downgraded Allstate Corp shares to underweight, and cut its price target to $25 from $38. “Until the market is more comfortable with capital, which we believe will require a significant rally in credit markets, fresh capital, or the accumulation of retained earnings without suffering additional realized losses, risk-reward appears less attractive at Allstate than for our coverage universe,” the analysts said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Invesco reports 82% fourth-quarter profit drop

30 Jan 2009 at 5:56am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Asset manager Invesco Ltd. on Friday reported an 82% fall in its fourth-quarter profit, to $31.9 million, or 8 cents a share, from $175.9 million, or 43 cents a share in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had expected, on average, profit of 19 cents a share. Invesco said the fourth-quarter results include $21.1 million of costs relating to savings initiatives and vacated properties, $14.2 million in investment write-downs and $7.7 million of foreign exchange losses. Without these charges, fourth-quarter profit would have been 17 cents a share, it said. Assets under management fell 13% during the quarter, to $357.2 billion, from $409.6 billion on Sept. 30. $2 billion of the fall was due to net outflow. Assets were $500.1 billion on Dec. 31, 2007.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

P&G sales fall 3%, earnings rise on sale of Folger’s unit

30 Jan 2009 at 5:12am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The Procter & Gamble Co. on Friday said second-quarter net income rose 53% to $5 billion, or $1.58 a share, from $3.27 billion, or 98 cents a share in the year-ago period. Operating income dropped 7% to $2.96 billion. The latest period includes a gain from the Nov. 8 sale of the company’s Folger’s coffee unit. Sales fell 3% to $20.4 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $1.40 a share on sales of $20.94 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research. “We expect the environment will remain difficult and highly volatile – at least in the near term,” the company said. Procter & Gamble expects earnings of 78 to 86 cents for its third quarter, compared to the Wall Street target of 85 cents a share.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Related Articles on Stock Market Investments.com

Latest News (external links)

Recent Articles on this site

Free Newsletter

Sign up for the free Daily newsletter, filled with tips and advice on Stock Market Investing, Stock Market Fundamentals, Day Trading, Online Trading, Commodities, Mutual Funds, Foreign Exchange and Options. Your email address will be kept confidential and won't be shared. Easily unsubscribe at any time.

If you enjoy the free information available on this site, you're sure to enjoy the free newsletter as well:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Site Search Tags:

Share and Enjoy:

January 30 2009 05:57 am | Stock Market News

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

Related Posts from the Past: