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WEDNESDAY MORNING'S TOP STORIES
By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:11 AM ET Nov 25, 2009
Pre-open movers
U.S. stock market futures added to gains Wednesday after a raft of data on consumer spending, jobless claims and durable-goods orders, with more figures on consumer sentiment and new home sales to come ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. See Indications.
Global markets
European shares rose for the second time in three days as miners advanced amid another record for gold futures. Asia shares ended mostly higher after a volatile session that saw many markets change direction at least once, with Japanese stocks climbing after a strong set of trade data.
See Europe Markets for more.See Asia Markets for more.
Broker action
UBS downgraded NRG Energy Inc. NRG to neutral from buy. The broker said that it has lowered its outlook for natural gas due to higher-than-anticipated production and that this would flow through to its assumptions on power, leading to a lower EBITDA outlook for NRG.
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Deere & Co. DE swung to a fourth-quarter loss as the company significantly devalued its landscaping business and felt the effects of a sharp decline in demand for farming, construction and forestry equipment. For the three months ended Oct. 31 the agricultural equipment maker said its net loss was $222.8 million, or 53 cents a share, a reversal from net income of $345 million, or 81 cents a share, generated in the year-ago fourth quarter. Deere also reported that total net sales fell 30% to $4.73 billion.
The number of people filing first-time claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 466,000 in the week ended Nov. 21, the Labor Department reported. The drop compared to a revised 501,000 who filed initial claims in the week ended Nov. 14. The consensus forecast among economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been for 495,000 initial claims in the latest week. The latest number snaps a string running a little more than a year during which first-time claims exceeded the 500,000 mark.
Jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. TIF posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit and raised its full-year outlook. Tiffany shares jumped in pre-market trading after it said net income in the quarter ended Oct. 31 fell to $43.3 million from $43.8 million. The per-share number was unchanged at 35 cents. Sales fell 2.9% to $598.2 million. As revised, the company sees full-year profit in a range of $1.88 to $.1.98 a share, up from a range of $1.65 to $1.75 a share previously.
U.S. consumer spending rose in October following September's sharp fall that came after the government's cash-for-clunkers program ended, the Commerce Department estimated. Real (inflation-adjusted) consumer spending rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in October after a 0.7% drop in September. Real disposable incomes rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, following a gain of 0.1% in September.
Orders for U.S.-made durable goods fell in October, declining 0.6% on weaker demand for machinery, the Commerce Department reported. Excluding transportation goods, orders fell 1.3%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a gain of 0.5% for durable-goods orders, and a gain of 0.4% for orders excluding transportation. Durable-goods orders had gained 2% in September, and were up 1.8% excluding transportation.
Gold futures climbed to a record above $1,182 an ounce, after a report that India is open to buying more gold from the International Monetary Fund drew even more investors into the bullion market. As the dollar also fell against other currencies, this boosted gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation. Gold for December delivery rose to a contract high of $1,182.40 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.
EMC Corp. EMC late Tuesday lowered its fourth-quarter earnings forecast as a result of a $100 million restructuring charge. The data storage company revised its consolidated GAAP earnings to 16 cents a share from 21 cents a share for the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also revised its expected GAAP earnings for the full-year 2009 to 50 cents a share from 55 cents.
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