What’s The Story Morning Glory?

by CC January 18, 2012 9:28 am • Commentary

Marketwatch

Shares of Goldman Sachs GS +1.11% rose 1.3% in pre-open trade after reporting fourth-quarter profit fell to $1.01 billion, or $1.84 a share, versus $2.39 billion, or $3.79 a share, a year ago.

Goldman was expected to report a fourth-quarter profit of $1.28 a share on revenue of $6.73 billion, according to a FactSet Research poll of analysts.

State Street Corp. STT -4.09% reported fourth-quarter net income more than quadrupled on 13% higher revenue.

EBay Inc. EBAY -0.26%  will report after the market closes.

Shares of Majesco Entertainment Co. COOL -19.46%  dropped 20% in pre-open trading as it reported a wider fourth-quarter loss. An impairment charge weighed on results. It also released a downbeat forecast for 2012.

Shares of Linear Technology Corp. LLTC +7.60%  rose more than 7% in pre-open trade after the maker of integrated circuits released a strong revenue forecast late the prior day.

Shares of Cree Inc. CREE -3.56%  fell 2.7% in pre-market trading after the maker of light-emitting diodes and electronic components forecast a weaker profit for the third quarter late Tuesday.

WSJ

Bank of New York Mellon’s fourth-quarter income fell 26% as the trust bank’s fee revenue dropped and it posted restructuring charges, though assets under management rose. Revenue missed Street expectations as Bank of New York called the period “a challenging revenue quarter, as general uncertainty in the financial markets resulted in lower-than-normal levels of client activity.” Shares fell 4.1% to $20.40 in recent premarket trading.

Yahoo said Jerry Yang, cofounder of the struggling Internet heavyweight, has resigned from its board and his other positions there. Shares rose 2.7% to $15.84 in recent premarket trading.

U.S. Bancorp’s fourth-quarter earnings jumped 39% as the lender again reduced funds set aside to cover potentially risky loans and benefited from growth in lending. Shares rose 0.8% to $29 in light premarket trading.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s fourth-quarter profit slid 42% as the lender struggled with a decline in revenue and steep one-time charges, although credit costs continued to fall. Shares slipped 1.6% to $60.25 premarket.

Hess Corp. said the Hovensa LLC refinery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, will be shut down, after the refinery’s losses continued over several years. Hess said it will take a $525 million after-tax charge in its fourth quarter as a result of the shutdown, after which Hovensa will operate as an oil storage terminal. Shares rose 1.6% to $58.30 in recent premarket trading.

Cree Inc.’s fiscal second-quarter profit fell 76% as the electronic-component maker’s margins continued to slide. Shares dropped 3.8% to $22.45 in premarket trading as the company also gave a gloomy third-quarter profit target that missed analysts’ estimates.

Linear Technology Corp.’s fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 39% as the chip maker reported weaker revenue and margins. Shares still rose 10% to $32.89 in light premarket trading as the company’s adjusted earnings beat analyst expectations and as the company issued upbeat guidance for the third quarter.

Majesco Entertainment Co.’s fourth-quarter loss widened as an impairment charge weighed on the videogame provider’s bottom-line results, though revenue increased. Shares fell 27% to $2.18 in premarket trading as the company’s results missed analyst expectations and as it issued a downbeat forecast for 2012.

Drug maker XOMA Corp. said Tuesday it acquired the U.S. rights to market blood-pressure treatment franchise from the French pharmaceutical company that is also its partner on XOMA’s lead drug candidate. Shares in the biotechnology company were up 1.2% at $1.70 in recent premarket trading. The stock has been losing value lately, hitting an all-time low last month.

WSJ

Overnight Headlines (Links) World/U.S.

Wikipedia, Google Go Black to Protest SOPA

Romney Unveils Income-Tax Rate: 15%

Greek Debt Talks Resume

Iran Warns Saudi Arabia on Oil Offer

Market

Politics, Tax Code Said to Stymie U.S.

World Bank Cuts Growth View

Pickup in Lending Lifts Big Banks

Corporate

Co-Founder Yang Resigns From Yahoo

Man Group Funds Fall

 

Economics/FedSpeak

  • 8:30 a.m.: PPI report for December. Economists think PPI rose 0.1% after gaining 0.3% in November. Core PPI, excluding food and energy, is expected to be up 0.1%, matching November’s gain.
  • 9:00 a.m.: Treasury International Capital data for November.
  • 9:15 a.m.: Industrial production and capacity utilization for December. Economists think production rose 0.5% after falling 0.2% in November. They think capacity utilization rose to 78.1% from 77.8% in November.
  • 1:00 p.m.: NAHB housing market index for January.

Key Earnings

Before the bell we get results from:

  • Bank of New York Mellon
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Northern Trust
  • Charles Schwab
  • US Bancorp
  • PNC Financial
  • State Street
  • Fastenal

After the bell we get results from:

  • eBay
  • Xilinx
  • F5 Networks
  • SLM