- Governments Must Take Steps To Avoid More Dubais: El-Erian
- Regulators Compile Global List of 'Systemic Risk' Banks
- Dubai Stocks Shed 7%, Abu Dhabi Tumbles 8%
- The World's Biggest Debtor Nations
- UAE, Abu Dhabi Ratings Unlikely to Be Cut: Moody's
- US Midwest Business Expands Stronger Than Expected
- BofA Aims to Clearly Spell Out Credit Card Terms
- Advertisers Sticking With Tiger After Accident
- What Black Friday Shoppers Spent on – And Where
- My Commodities Outlook after Dubai: Dennis Gartman
- Saab Lovers Sound Off
- Tiger Ads Continue To Run Today
- Cheap Gas, Cheap Gifts
- Diving Partridge Demand Can't Keep Lid on '12 Days' Cost
- Tamminen: Copenhagen And Beyond
- Dubai is Harsh Reminder of Prolonged Global Recovery
- Tiger Woods Wants to Protect Family Privacy: Agent
- Portfolio Prep for Next Week: 'Don't Get Crazy'
MOST SHARED
- Dubai Stocks Shed 7%, Abu Dhabi Tumbles 8%
- Tiger Woods Wants to Protect Family Privacy: Agent
- Governments Must Take Steps To Avoid More Dubais: El-Erian
- Dubai's Nakheel Seeks Suspension $5.25 Billion in Bonds
- South Korea Sees Exports Bouncing, but Risks Remain
- US Shoppers Spent Less Over Black Friday: NRF
- US Senator Opposes Fed Chief Bernanke Renomination
- Sands China Ends 10.2% Lower in Hong Kong Debut
- Tamminen: Copenhagen And Beyond
Text Size 
Stocks opened higher Friday as investors shrugged off a dismal durable-good report and were encouraged by Ford's narrower-than-expected loss.
This comes after major indexes eked out a slight gain in the previous session with bank shares getting a lift from some better-than-expected earnings.
Ford [F
Loading...
()
] shares soared 20 percent after the automaker reported a net loss of 60 cents a share, compared with 3 cents per share in the same quarter of 2008. Excluding items, it lost 75 cents a share, beating expectations, which had called for a loss of $1.23 a share.
The company expects to be profitable in 2011, CEO Alan Mulally said.
On the economic front, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the downturn has started to show signs of improving in recent weeks, when speaking at a meeting of G20 officials in Washington.
And March durable-goods orders fell 0.8 percent, half of the drop expected, though February was revised sharply lower to show a 2.1-percent gain. That number was previously reported as a 3.5-percent increase. Excluding the volatile transportation component, orders fell 0.6 percent, after a 2-percent increase last month.
New-home sales fell 0.6 percent in March after an upwardly revised 8.2-percent jump in February. Inventories of new homes dropped to 311,000 from 328,000, the biggest decline in more than 45 years.
In other earnings news: Dow component 3M [MMM
Loading...
()
] said it earned 81 cents a share in first quarter, below analysts' consensus estimates of 86 cents a share. Manufacturer Honeywell [HON
Loading...
()
] matched forecasts with a profit of 54 cents a share, but cut its full-year earnings guidance, citing the slumping economy.
American Express’ [AXP
Loading...
()
] results came in well above analysts’ expectations Thursday, despite suffering a rise in bad loans. Meanwhile, Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
()
] matched its forecasts and Amazon [AMZN
Loading...
()
] beat forecasts.
Regulators conducting the “stress test” will begin to reveal their findings to the country’s 19 largest banks under investigation later in the session. Officials will also publicly outline the process they are using, which could give investors an insight into how tough the government’s stance will be.
The final results of the test will be out on May 4 and will include details on the sustainability of banking giants such as Citigroup, [C
Loading...
()
] JPMorgan Chase [JPM
Loading...
()
] and Wells Fargo [WFC
Loading...
()
].
Still to Come:
FRIDAY: G-7 meeting in Washington; new-home sales
Send comments to .
Print
Email
- Ever wished your cab driver would stop chatting and just get to where you're going? Well, that moment is closer than ever.
- With Americans cutting back on spending, holiday tipping will take another hit this year.
- From the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that file, we present Jason Sadler, a man whose job is wearing T-shirts.
- Shopping for a gadget hound? The choices can be baffling. Here are a few that should be a hit.
- "The Who" will be the halftime act for Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami. Is the NFL behind the times?
- Zhu Zhu Pets are this year's must-have toy, fetching $40 or more on eBay.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes