- Just In Time for Holidays: More Gloom and Doom on Economy
- Turkey Day 101: How Well Do You Know Your Bird?
- Fed Sanguine About US Recovery, Worried on Jobs
- GM's Agreement to Sell Saab Unit Falls Apart
- Consumer Confidence Improves but Still Shaky
- US Home Prices Up 5th Month, 2nd Straight Quarter
- Holiday Guide to This Season's Smartphones
- Six Ways to Boost Your Income in a Big Way
- Buyers Look for Bargains at Luxury Condo Auction
- On Twitter, Beware False Prophets
- My 2010 Home Price Outlook: UBS Analyst
- Why Are Options Piling into Dollar Tree?
- Novartis 'Cells' Its Flu Vaccine Technology
- Silicon Valley and Hollywood Now Fast Friends
- Markets Can Rise 5-10% in the Near-Term: Strategist
- Busch: The Debt-Interest Rate Paradox
- The Lloyd's Prayer, Leggo My Eggo, Plate Hate & Your Emails
- Buy These 'Competitively Positioned' Stocks: Portfolio Manager
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- GM's Agreement to Sell Saab To Swedish Firm Falls Apart
- US Home Prices Up 5th Month, 2nd Straight Quarter
- FDIC Fund Falls into The Red, Bair Urges Lending
- Buyers Look For Bargains At Luxury Condo Auction
- Weak Dollar Is Golden for Mining Companies
- Revised GDP Reading Puts Growth at 2.8%; Inflation Tame
- Behind The Scenes With Warren Buffett
- Gold Will Collapse Like Oil Did in 2008: Charts
- CA "More Profitable" After Saving Energy: CEO
Text Size 
Wall Street was looking at a slightly lower open Monday as traders took a leery view of the kickoff to earnings season.
Dow component Alcoa [AA
Loading...
()
] begins earnings, which will start with a trickle this week before revving into full gear in what investors expect to be a bleak reflection of the steepening economic troubles.
Alcoa will report after the market close, with analsts surveyed by Briefing.com expecting the alumunim giant to show a 10-cent loss. Shares fell 4.2 percent premarket as Deutsche Bank lowered its rating on Alcoa to sell from hold.
Futures were indicating a drop of less than 0.5 percent as the market looked to rebound from last week's tumble that came amid bleak employment numbers.
Investors also will be awaiting developments in the potential sale of Citigroup's Smith Barney investment brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley. CNBC reported over the weekend that an announcement is unlikely today in a deal that could net Citi [C
Loading...
()
] more than $2.5 billion for surrendering its majority share to Morgan [MS
Loading...
()
].
Another fall in oil prices more than also looked to be a drag on the market.
US light, sweet crude [US@CL.1
Loading...
()
] slipped $2 in early trading to below $38 a barrel as signs continued to point to weak global demand. The move came even as Saudi Arabia announced over the weekend that it was cutting output levels below those endorsed by the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Shares in major energy producers drifted lower in premarket trading, with ExxonMobil [XOM
Loading...
()
] falling 0.7 percent.
Also in the energy trade, Ukraine removed conditions on Monday that threatened a gas deal to resume Russian supplies, opening the way for the rival former Soviet states to resolve a dispute that has plunged much of Europe into an energy crisis.
Harley-Davidson [HOG
Loading...
()
] led the big early losers as Goldman Sachs added the motorcycle maker to its conviction sell list. Shares fell more than 11 percent premarket.
Conversely, Pfizer [PFE
Loading...
()
] gained 1.2 percent after Goldman upgraded the pharmaceutical to neutral from sell as the company restructures its operations.
Economic stimulus issues will be in the news throughout the week.
Congressional Democrats could schedule a vote this week on an expected joint request from President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama to release the second $350 billion traunch of funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bailout money being used to help troubled US institutions.
Automakers also were making their case for sustainability going forward following last weekend's auto show in Detroit.
CEOs from Ford [F
Loading...
()
], General Motors [GM
Loading...
()
] and Chrysler were speaking to CNBC this morning after assuring consumers that they were developing products to lead them into an energy-conscious future.
In housing, Lennar [LEN
Loading...
()
] shares gained more than 2 percent premarket as the company sought to stave off allegations of impropriety from a California pastor who spent time in prison for stock fraud.
Lennar said its CEO did not receive a mortgage from the company and it was not engaged in a Ponzi scheme with its joint ventures.
In the global markets, trading was lower, with Europe off about 0.5 percent and Asian shares dropping about 2 percent.
There were no significant economic reports on tap Monday, but the rest of the week features retail sales and inflation numbers. Deccember's retail numbers are due Tuesday, while producer price index figures are due Wednesday and consumer price index Thursday.
Print
Email
- Remember when auto shows were major events where new models could generate buzz?
- A diet high in fat and sugar might actually be good for your portfolio.
- A new McDonald's in Manhattan is the nation's first to sport a sleek, chic interior imported from stores in London and Paris.
- Italians were outraged by a minister's comments that lunchbreaks are bad for waistlines and the economy.
- Playboy will outsource its publishing operations in a bid to become profitable again.
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes