Despite better-than-expected earnings results from Dow members IBM and United ,whiTechnologies, investors appear to be focusing on the blue chips' missed revenue figures, pressuring the Dow, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are bumping along the flatline. Meanwhile, Texas Instruments exceeded analysts' bottomline forecasts, while also announcing cost-saving initiatives, including the elimination of 1,100 jobs, but the chipmaker issued a soft 1Q earnings outlook, while Coach fell short of the Street's forecasts and posted a sharp drop in same-store sales for the holiday shopping season. Treasuries are nearly flat amid the mixed earnings reports, while the lone release on today's U.S. economic calendar showed a rise in mortgage applications. Crude oil prices are higher, while gold is lower and the U.S. dollar is nearly unchanged. Overseas, Asian stocks finished mostly higher, with Chinese markets rallying on eased credit crunch concerns, while European equities are mostly lower following the U.S. earnings reports and some mixed data in the region.
Source: Schwab
