BloggingStocks

Pre-market movers (UBS) (BCS)

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-07-01T07:51:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

UBS (NYSE:UBS) is down 4% on concersn it will have more large write-offs.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) is down 3% on the belief it may have to raise more money.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) is off over 3% on news it is buying another steel company.

Randgold Resources (NASDAQ:GOLF) is falling almost 3% as the value of the dollar hurt gold shares.

Stocks may trade differently in the pre-market than they do the regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Newspaper wrap-up: Anheuser-Busch to cut jobs and raise prices

Laurie Pasternack — 2008-06-30T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Citigroup Inc. (C), Anheuser-Busch Cos (BUD), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

MAJOR PAPERS:

After being downgraded by Moody's, The Wall Street Journal reported that MBIA Inc (NYSE: MBI) will have to make $2.9 billion in termination payments and put up an additional $4.5 billion in collateral on agreements called Guaranteed Investment Contracts. As a result the firm is selling municipal bonds to raise cash.
Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc (NYSE: BUD) introduced a new business plan to help thwart a takeover by rival InBev. As part of its plan, The Wall Street Journal reported its intention to reduce headcount, raise prices and buy back more of its shares.
In an attempt to withstand the economic slowdown, the Financial Times reported that Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) announced plans to cut 17,200 jobs worldwide. Approximately 6,400 job cuts will be in Germany with a third more, elsewhere in Europe.
The Financial Times also reported that Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) is planning to change its bonus system for hundreds of its top managers, in an attempt to increase cooperation and reduce competition within the company.

OTHER PAPERS:

John Varley, the CEO of Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS), said the GBP4.5B rights issue answered naysayers, and said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that extra financing will not be necessary.

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Bank chiefs in Europe see recovery

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-06-29T07:07:00+00:00

Filed under: Insiders, Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Recession

It may all be doom and gloom in the U.S., but the heads of two of Europe's largest banks believe that the economy is over the worst of it.

The head of France's biggest listed bank, BNP Paribas, told Italy's La Repplica newspaper, "The worst should be over and I think that from the second half onwards the crisis should normalize: that is, the phase of exceptional turbulence on the markets should end."

Over the the UK, the news was nearly as good. The head of Barclays (NYSE: BCS), the biggest bank in the UK said that the 4.5 billion pounds the bank had raised was adequate to get it though the crisis, according to The Telegraph.

Both men may be bank CEOs, but they may be wrong. A growing number of analysts see bank and brokerage earnings getting worse in the second quarter and even into the second half of the year. The primary reasons behind growing financial company balance sheet problems, especially the mortgage crisis and LBO loans, may be becoming more troubled and not less.

If the economy tips into a deep recession, banks will find themselves further damaged by loans from every sector going into default. That means more write-offs, which means more raising of capital and further shareholder dilution.

CEOs at big banks were singing the same tune in May. It turned out not to be true.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247walls.com.

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Analyst upgrades: BCS, CYN and BAESY

Eric Buscemi — 2008-06-26T11:19:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Barclays, City National and BAE Systems were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Barclays (NYSE:BCS) to Overweight from Equal Weight after the company announced plans to raise capital and disclosed no further write-downs.
Keefe Bruyette lifted City National (NYSE:CYN) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation, as they believe the company should outperform peers in terms in credit quality.
Societe Generale upgraded shares of BAE Systems (Other OTC:BAESY) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's earnings visibility.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Baird upgraded Host Hotels (NYSE:HST) to Outperform from Neutral.
Goldman added Monsanto (NYSE:MON) to its Conviction Buy List.
Corinthian Colleges (NASDAQ:COCO) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman.

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Early analyst calls (GM) (RIMM) (BCS)

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-06-26T07:17:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, General Motors (GM), Research in Motion (RIMM), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

Goldman Sachs downgraded General Motors (NYSE:GM) to "sell" from "neutral" and lowered its price target to $11 from $19, according to MarketWatch.

A Goldman Sachs analyst removed chemical producer Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from his "Conviction Buy" list, according to the AP.

JPM Securities has downgraded Research-In-Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) to "market perform" from "outperform", according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports Morgan Stanley upgraded Barclays (NYSE:BCS) to "overweight" from "equal weight"

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Citigroup may have another $9 billion in losses

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-06-26T04:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Forecasts, Bad news, Citigroup Inc. (C), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

Over at Goldman Sachs the firm's research opinion on Citigroup (NYSE: C) took a sharp turn for the worse. According to Reuters, the brokerage said Citi "may incur second-quarter write-downs of $9 billion and raise additional capital."

If a new infusion of money into Citi looks anything like the one Barclays (NYSE: BCS) just completed, an capital raise of $10 billion could dilute current shareholders by another 10%. That could drop the US bank's stock below its 52-week low and might take shares under $15.

The news about Citi says more about the future than it does about the past. If Citi thinks that it needs significant capital going forward, it clearly believes that the credit crisis has another quarter or two to go.

Several bank CEOs said in April that the credit crisis was easing. It now appears that they were wrong. Rising mortgage default rates, problems in the credit card industry, and falling LBO loan values have made sure of that.

A sustained problem in the financial markets could deepen a recession. Banks raise money, but they do not take the risk of lending it to consumers and many business. Cash starvation makes its way down the food chain. The lending markets disappear as money center banks try to save their skins.

Citi raising money is not just Citi raising money. It is more ominous than that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of data, Fed

Melly Alazraki — 2008-06-25T07:42:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Market matters, Bank of America (BAC), Countrywide Financial (CFC), General Mills (GIS), Economic data, Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Oil, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, ahead of several economic reports and the Federal Reserve's policy statement on interest rates. While trading might be affected by the upcoming economic data, the real test will be in early afternoon, when Fed chairman Bernanke will read the policy statement. Some on Wall Street believe a strong statement could help markets recover.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday, as markets just couldn't pull it together ahead of the Federal Reserve rate decision. Combine that with worries over the economy, oil, struggling financials and the the Dow industrials fell another 34 points, or 0.29%, the Nasdaq Composite 17 points, 0.73%, and the S&P 500 3 points, or 0.28%.

At 8:30 a.m. EDT, the first economic reading of the day will be reported -- May durable goods orders. At 10:00 a.m., May statistics for new home sales is due out. Neither are likely to show any improvement in their respective sectors.

Then, at 10:30 a.m., weekly crude inventories will be released. Lately, this statistic has affected oil prices more than it once did. While the report may show diminishing supplies, it could also show lessened demand.

The biggest event of the day will then come at 2:15 p.m. EDT, when Bernanke will read the Fed's policy statement. No action on interest rate is expected, but a shift in focus where the Fed considers inflation as a risk to the economy rather than slow growth. This could be a signal for future rate hikes.

In corporate news, Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) plans to sell 4.5 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) of stock to boost capital depleted by credit-related writedowns. Barclays rose as much as 6.4%in London trading, the biggest gain in two months.

Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) shareholders are scheduled to vote on the proposed Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) buyout Wednesday morning. Since it's a stock deal, the originially $4 billion buyout is now valued around $2.8 billion. Also, Illinois' attorney general plans to sue Countrywide Financial, saying it used 'deceptive' lending practices to sell risky loans.

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) reported a 17% decline in its fiscal fourth quarter profit due to commodity hedging costs. Still, its revenue came in above the Street's expectations on strong sales of its yogurt, cookie mixes and Cheerios.

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Pre-market movers (BCS) (JBL) (ESLR)

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-06-25T07:39:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL) is up over 10% after strong earnings.

3COM (NASDAQ:COMS) is up 6% after posting a robust quarter.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) is up almost 6% on news it had raised $8.9 billion.

Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ:ESLR) is off 4% after saying it would sell $300 million in notes.

Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC) is down almost 3% on earnings which were under Wall St. forecasts.

Shares may trade differently in the pre-market than in the regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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As Barclays (BCS) raises nearly $9 billion, where does it end

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-06-25T04:14:00+00:00

Filed under: Deals, Economic data, Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) become the most recent bank to raise billions of dollars, bring in $8.8 billion from investors including the sovereign funds in Qatar and Singapore.

"Through our capital raising ... we strengthen our capital base and give ourselves additional resources to pursue our strategy of growth through earnings diversification," Barclays Chief Executive John Varley said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

That is a nice way to say the bank was running out of money.

The news says more about the future than it does the past. A bank as large as Barclays would not raise such a large sum if it believed the credit crisis was largely over. The firm clearly expects more fall-out from mortgage-related paper and LBO loans. Why else dilute the shareholders?

At least the fact that large funds will still put money into banks is good news.

If the tea leaves from the bank's actions are correct, the opinion among many Wall Street analysts that the financial crisis will extend into next year is right.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Barclays to get $927 million infusion from Japan's Mitsui Financial

Joseph Lazzaro — 2008-06-20T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: International markets, Other issues, Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

Barclays is expected to receive a $927 million capital investment from Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group as part of a plan to restore depleted capital, Bloomberg News reported Friday.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS), the United Kingdom's fourth largest bank, has been hurt by write-downs stemming from the end of the U.S. housing boom and subsequent mortgage and related asset-backed bond defaults.

Barclays' shares fell $1.29 to $24.28 on the news in Friday morning trading.

London-based economist Mark Chandler told BloggingStocks there are three positives stemming from the announcement. First, banking regulators in the U.K. will view it as "a coming to terms, something markets around the globe will also appreciate." Second, it demonstrates that investors "are still willing to jump into the pool and commit capital for less than ideal ventures, so you can see how the markets will look favorably on that." Chandler added that he does not have a rating on nor own shares in Barclays.

Japan's banks: capital to deploy

Finally, Mitsui's commitment to a bank abroad indicates that Japanese banks have repaired the worst of their balance sheets. "A Japanese bank would not commit funds abroad if their balance sheet was not solid," Chandler said. "Japan's banks have rebuilt their businesses, and are in better shape than they were a decade ago. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it looks like the world's bank concerns have shifted to the U.S. and U.K. for this decade."

Moreover, although Barclays' shares, as well shares of other banks and financial service companies, are likely to continue to be under pressure for the next few months, Chandler said investors should keep in mind the larger, credit market picture, which is brightening, in his interpretation.

"I know it's hard to do these days, as we're all a bit more trading oriented, but credit market conditions have improved," Chandler said. "More write-offs are ahead, but in terms of liquidity and credit market function, conditions have stabilized, and I think Mitsui's deployment of capital outside Japan is also further evidence of that, as well."

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Pre-market movers (BCS) (ALU)

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-06-17T08:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Alcatel-LucentADS (ALU), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) is up about 5% on news that interest rates are unlikely to rise in the UK.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) is up about 4% on news it has gotten a $1 billion contract from China Mobile (NYSE:CHL).

Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN) is down 25% after revising its growth forecast down.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) is down over 12% on a report of a quarterly loss.

Stocks may trade differently in the pre-market than they do in the regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Pre-market movers (SIRI) (GE) (BCS)

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-06-16T08:05:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, General Electric (GE), XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up about 10% on news that its merger with XM (NASDQ:XMSR) is likely to be approved by the FCC.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) is up about 7% on word that it may make a rights offering to raise capital.

GE (NYSE:GE) is down almost 2% on a brokerage downgrade.

Teva (NASDAQ:TEVA) is up over 5% on news that one of its drugs slows the progress of Parkinson's

Stocks may trade differently in the pre-market than they do in the regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Before the bell: Futures higher with Lehman, AIG in focus

Melly Alazraki — 2008-06-16T07:47:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Market matters, Amer Intl Group (AIG), Economic data, Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Oil, Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Housing, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures were a little higher early Monday, reacting mostly to news in the financials again with Lehman Brothers set to report massive quarterly loss, AIG ousting its CEO and Barclays surging in London.

On Friday, U.S. stocks climbed after May CPI report showed core inflation was inline with expectations. The Dow industrials added 165 points, or 1.37%, the S&P 500 rose 20 points, or 1.50%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 50 points, or 2.09%.

Not many economic indicator are due for release today:
At 8:30 a.m. EDT, June NY Empire State Index, a regional manufacturing reading will be reported.
At 9:00 a.m., April net foreign security purchases figures are due out.
Apart from official readings, the National Association of Home Builders will release the latest housing market index in the afternoon. Lately some figures have been showing a possible bottoming and it would be interesting to see what the index brings about.

Also, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak at a Senate Finance Committee health summit.

Meanwhile, oil prices were steady around $135.60 a barrel after Saudi Arabia told U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon over the weekend that it would boost output, and ahead of Saudi meeting of oil producing and consuming nations in Jeddah in more than a month.

Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) is due to release its second-quarter earnings results. The bank has already estimated last week it would lose some $2.8 billion due to massive writedowns.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) ousted its chief executive over the weekend and on Sunday named former Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) executive Robert Willumstad to the top post.

According to Bloomberg: "Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) rose the most in 16 years in London trading after the bank eased concerns that a stock sale will hurt current shareholders and reported earnings last month were better than a year ago."

And good news for some shareholders, and maybe consumers too. According to the Associated Press, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission finally gave its recommendation to approve the $5 billion merger between the Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) in exchange for concessions that include turning over 24 channels to noncommercial and minority programming.

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Newspaper wrap-up: NBC, British private equity firm expected to buy German games site

Laurie Pasternack — 2008-06-09T08:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, General Electric (GE), Verizon Communications (VZ), Barclays plc ADS (BCS), JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

MAJOR PAPERS:

The LiveTV unit of JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) is buying Verizon Communications Inc's (NYSE: VZ) Airfone network, the Wall Street Journal reported.
As Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH) is about to report a second quarter loss of about $2B, the firm is closing in on raising over $5B in new capital, the Wall Street Journal reported. Once source of Lehman's new funding is reportedly the New Jersey Division of Investment.
The Financial Times reported that General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal and British private equity firm GMT Communications Partners are expected to soon acquire Bigpoint, a German-based computer games website.

OTHER PAPERS:

According to the Independent, the credit crunch has cost the jobs of about 100 bankers at Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS). The bank cut about 20 individuals on the leveraged finance team and will reportedly cut 80 more in investment banking and IT support.

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Newspaper wrap-up: Barclays and RBS raided by Office of Fair Trading

Laurie Pasternack — 2008-06-02T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Intel (INTC), General Motors (GM), Motorola (MOT), New York Times'A' (NYT), QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), Texas Instruments (TXN), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

MAJOR PAPERS:

Chip suppliers for cellphones including Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) are moving aggressively to make products for Intel Corporation's (NASDAQ: INTC) new breed of pocket-size portable devices, called MIDs, the Wall Street Journal reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

According to the UK Times, Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (NYSE: RBS) were raided by the Office of Fair Trading as part of the investigation into price fixing loans to professional services firms.

WEB SITES:

Almost three dozen of the largest U.S. companies may have to slash their dividends, since the dividends greatly exceed their cash flow, Bloomberg reported. Large companies in this situation include General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT), and The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT).
China Telecom Corporation Limited (NYSE: CHA) may announce today that it has bought the mobile phone assets of China Unicom Limited (NYSE: CHU) and its parent company for more than $14.4B, Bloomberg reported, citing the South China Morning Post. China Unicom could say that it is merging with China Netcom Group Corporation (NYSE: CN) as early as today, the newspaper added.

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Newspaper wrap-up: Heinz expected to raise earnings, sales projections

Laurie Pasternack — 2008-05-29T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, US Airways Group (LCC), UAL Corp (UAUA), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

MAJOR PAPERS:

H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) is today expected to increase its sales and profit projections for the next two years, as it reports results of its fiscal year ended April 30. The Wall Street Journal reported that sales are to grow 6% or higher from 4%, while earnings per share growth for the next two years is projected to grow between 8% and 11% from the earlier projection of 7% to 9%.
It appears that Vistaprint Limited (NASDAQ: VPRT), a graphic design services and printed products company, counts on referral fees from pop up rewards programs on it website for a certain amount of its revenue and profit and also relies on the referral of its customers to outside firms offering rewards programs, which turns out to be a monthly fee for services such as discounts on movies and amusement parks, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street". Some believe the stock, whose shares have plummeted over concerns of slowing revenue and slimmer gross margins, may be trading too high for its own good.
According to people familiar with their plans, the Financial Times reported that the CEOs of UAL Corporation's (NASDAQ: UAUA) United Airlines and US Airways Group (NYSE: LCC) will today meet to discuss the carriers' potential merger agreement.

OTHER PAPERS:

The Independent reported that for the second time this month, Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) revised lower its calculation of analysts' consensus for its full-year profit, cutting its 2008 figure by nearly 8% to GBP5.876B pre-tax; Barclays cut the calculation 15% two weeks ago.

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Newspaper wrap-up: Blackstone Group, Apollo, to bid for Chemtura

Laurie Pasternack — 2008-05-27T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Bear Stearns Cos (BSC), Blackstone Group L.P (BX)

MAJOR PAPERS:

Last December Chemtura Corporation (NYSE: CEM), a specialty chemicals company with a market cap of about $1.9B, said it might sell itself, and now The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) and Apollo Management are in talks to buy the company, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In part one of a series to help explain the reasons why The Bear Stearns Companies (NYSE: BSC) collapsed, the Wall Street Journal said that the troubled firm was torn apart by executives who couldn't agree on what course to take, including raising capital and slicing mortgage and related bonds from its inventory. And each of about six attempts to raise capital fell part.

OTHER PAPERS:

The American investor and Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) chief Warren Buffett said the United States is already in a recession that is deeper and will last longer than the public expects, the Economic Times reported.
According to the Telegraph, Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) is planning to sell Barclays Life Assurance Company, its life assurance arm, which has over GBP7B of funds under management. Sources believe potential bidders for the unit may include Pearl, Swiss Reinsurance Company (OTC: SWCEY), General Re, Canada Life and XL Re. Market commentators believe that on an embedded value basis, the unit is currently valued at around GBP1B.

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Analyst downgrades: BCS, MER and AKAM

Eric Buscemi — 2008-05-22T11:09:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Merrill Lynch (MER), Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Barclays plc ADS (BCS)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Barclays, Merrill Lynch and Akamai were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Lehman downgraded shares of Barclays(NYSE:BCS)to Equal Weight from Overweight as they believe the uncertainty of more write-downs will weigh on the stock.
Ladenburg Thalmann downgraded shares of Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) to Sell from Neutral as they believe disruptions in cash and hedge markets will result in lower than expected earnings. The firm lowered MER's EPS estimates and target to $39 from $49.
Goldman cut Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM) to Sell from Neutral based on valuation and competitive pressures.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Merrill downgraded Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) to Sell from Neutral.
Piper downgraded CDC Corp (CHINA) to Neutral from Buy.
American Electric Power (AEP) was lowered at Jefferies to Hold from Buy.

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Early analyst calls (MER) (LEH) (AKAM) (AAPL) (BCS)

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-05-22T07:17:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Merrill Lynch (MER), Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

Goldman Sachs cut Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) to "sell" from "neutral", according to MarketWatch. The financial site also reports that Lehman Bros.cut Barclays (NYSE:BCS) to "equal weight" from "overweight."

Oppenheimer initiated Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) with a rating of "outperform" and a price target of $235, according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Ladenburg Thalman downgraded Lehman (NYSE:LEH) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) to "sell" from "neutral".

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Before the bell: AAPL, BCS, LEH, F, GM, HPQ, BA, ITY ...

Melly Alazraki — 2008-05-20T08:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Rumors, Apple Inc (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Boeing Co (BA), Intuit Inc (INTU), Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

Before the bell: Futures lower ahead of PPI, after HD earnings

After announcing a deal with France's Orange last week, and as the June 9 keynote address from Steve Jobs approaches, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be finally close to a deal that would add two of Asia's hottest cellphone carriers, Japan and Korea, to its growing list of international partners. According to reports in Asian news services, Apple is planning a special joint release of the next-generation iPhone with Japan's NTT DoCoMo and Korea Telecom Freetel. That would leave China as the last big Asian market without an authorized iPhone carrier.

According to the Telegraph, Barclays (NYSE: BCS) is considering an acquisition of investment banks and looked at Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) and UBS (NYSE: UBS).

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is cutting production at its Volvo unit, possibly affecting one-third of the workers, in an attempt to cut costs and losses at the upscale Swedish brand. The cut comes amid speculation that Ford is priming Volvo for a sale.

The Journal also reported that there was a breakdown in talks between General Motors (NYSE: GM) and the United Auto Workers union, which could extend a costly strike at a Kansas assembly line that makes the profitable Malibu sedan.

Earnings today also include Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) and after the close, the delayed results from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) as well as those from Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU).

An executive in charge of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA)'s 787 program, said the highly anticipated 787 jetliner is on track for a June "power on" milestone, and subsequent planes are arriving at the final assembly floor in better and better shape. After three delays, that will cost Boeing billions of dollars, powering up the 787 for the first time is a major milestone.

The world's fourth-largest tobacco firm, Imperial Tobacco (NYSE: ITY) said Tuesday its profit sank 45% in the first half and it plans to raise $9.6 billion by selling shares at a discount to help pay for its recent acquisition of the Spanish tobacco business Altadis.

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