- S&P at 1050-1200 Trading Range Next Year: Strategist
- Treasury On Mortgage Modifications
- Blue Jeans Expected to See Another Green Christmas
- Investors Thankful for Gains This Year
- Thanksgiving & the Markets
- Art Cashin: Caution 'Growing' in Financials, Dividend Moves
- Topless Business Is Taking Off
- 3 Software Stock Picks from Lazard's Senior Analyst
- Schork Oil Outlook: Gas Bulls Pinning Hopes on Mother Nature
- New-Home Sales Jump to Highest Level in Over Year
- Consumer Mood Improves, But Anxiety Over Finances
- Jobless Claims Below 500,000, Durable Orders Slip
- US Said It Will Reduce Emissions by 17% by 2020
- Garlic Price Rises Surpass Gold, Stocks in China
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Black Friday: Can Banks Tap the Frenzy, Too?
- Blue Jeans Expected to See Another Green Christmas
- Half of Banks' Losses May Still Be Hidden: IMF Head
MOST SHARED
- Ritz-Carlton ?Struggling? in the US: President
- Garlic Price Rises Surpass Gold, Stocks in China
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Obama Reiterates Commitment to Boost US-India Ties
- Oil Price to Average $75.40 in 2010: Poll
- New-Home Sales Jump 6.2% To Highest Level in Over Year
- Half of Banks' Losses May Still Be Hidden: IMF Head
- Consumer Mood Improves, But Anxiety Over Personal Finances
- Jobless Claims Below 500,000, Durable Orders Slip
- Americans Ditch Planes for Trains this Thanksgiving
Text Size 
Mergers and would be-mergers, housing starts and producer prices could all influence the market today. Stocks look a bit weak on the opening after clinging to small gains yesterday that put the Dow at another record. Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
()
] CEO Steve Ballmer late yesterday surprised analysts by telling them their horizons were too high for Vista and BusinessWeek stirred up takeover talk in the airline industry with a report British Airways is teaming with Goldman Sachs [GS
Loading...
()
] to make a bid for AMR, [AMR
Loading...
()
] but Reuters reported Friday morning that no deal was planned.
European markets are lower this morning and Asian trading was mixed, with the Japanese market slightly lower. Oil is slightly weaker. Housing starts are being watched closely, and inflation data, producer prices are expected to be down 0.6%. Our Steve Liesman and Rick Santelli will look at those numbers today and tell us why the markets are beginning to go back to thinking that the Fed could cut rates.
Meger Mania
British Airways has eyed U.S. carriers in the past. Business Week's report quotes people familiar with the matter. The usually dead silent Goldman Sachs said nothing, and the airlines would not comment on the report of what would be a more than $10 billion deal. But sources told Reuters that there are no current plans for a bid. We'll look today at airline industry consolidation and whether a cross-border deal makes sense. Separately, a real cross-border deal was announced overnight. Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Arengtaria agreed to buy Compass Bancshares [CBSS
Loading...
()
] for about $9.6 billion.
Microsoftball
Ballmer's comments on Vista late yesterday are unlikely to be cheered on Wall Street this morning. At a strategy presentation to analysts, Microsoft's CEO said forecasts for revenue from Windows Vista for full-year 2008 are "overly aggressive." The price of Microsoft stock was immediately seen as overly aggressive in after-hours trading, and it lost more than 1%.
Analyst Action
Wall Street's research departments are active today ahead of the three day weekend. At Goldman Sachs, Coke [COKE
Loading...
()
] and Pepsi [PEP
Loading...
()
] were upgraded to buy from neutral. UBS cut Applebees [APPB
Loading...
()
] to neutral, and Credit Suisse cut Baker Hughes [BHI
Loading...
()
] to neutral.
Late Day Apology
Jet Blue's [JBLU
Loading...
()
] CEO apologized to the hundreds of passengers trapped for hours on its grounded planes Wednesday. "We didn't handle it well," said CEO David Neeleman, during an interview with our Maria Bartiromo on "Closing Bell" yesterday. If you missed it, check out the video on our website. Analyst Ray Neidl says on "Squawk Box" today that he thought the incident was a one time event and Neeleman handled it well with an upfront apology.
Shock Options
The Wall Street Journal is reporting investigations are heating up in the options backdating scandal, and that the government is considering charges against former executives from Apple, KLA Tencor and McAfee.
- Here's how key provisions of the health care reform bill would impact your insurance and how you'll pay for it.
- Playboy will outsource its publishing operations in a bid to become profitable again.
- Remember when auto shows were major events where new models could generate buzz?
- After nine years the NBA’s minor league equivalent is finally coming into its own.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- 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