OP Top Stories

US stock futures are pointing to a sharp lower opening. As of this writing Dow futures are down over 200 points. Well, these days few hundred points move doesn’t really matter. Futures, Opening and closing are now different things. 

From earnings perspective,

• General Electric (GE) reported in-line earnings of $0.37 per share, and is maintaining its dividend.
• Schlumberger (SLB) posted adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share for the fourth quarter. Wall Street had been looking for $1.05 per share. 
• Harley-Davidson (HOG) earned $0.34 per share in the latest quarter. That was $0.23 short of the consensus forecast of $0.57 per share. HOG is sharply lower in the premarket action. 
• Capital One Financial (COF) lost $1.59 per share during the fourth quarter. The loss includes certain goodwill impairments. The outlook on Capital One was lowered to negative from stable by Standard & Poor’s, but the company’s BBB+ credit rating was preserved. Shares of COF were recently indicated more than 10% lower at $19.62 per share in premarket trading. 

The Wall Street Journal reports Pfizer (PFE) is in talks to acquire Wyeth (WYE). The report suggests the deal could be valued at more than $60 billion. Shares of WYE are up more than 13% to $44.00 per share in premarket action. Meanwhile, PFE was recently quoted almost 3.0% lower at $16.70 per share ahead of the stock market’s opening. There is no official economic data scheduled for release today.

The U.K. economy shrank more than economists forecast during the fourth quarter in the biggest contraction since 1980 as the financial crisis crippled the banking industry and mired Britain deeper in the recession.

Hedge funds lost more money in 2008 than any year on record. It may get worse in 2009, forcing fund managers to overhaul investment strategies, reduce fees and make it easier for clients to withdraw cash. The $1.2 trillion industry may shed as much as $450 billion in assets, or 37 percent, through market losses and client withdrawals this year.

More than nine million computers around the world have been infected by a digital virus in what experts believe is a multi-staged attack. The world leading security experts paint a scary scenario, stressing that they are yet to identify who programmed it and what the next stage will be.

Pre-market Gap-ups – In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: SCSC +11.4%, CBST +8.6%, EZPW +7.4%, SYNA +7.3%, NTCT +2.7% , STP +2.5%, FOR +45.8%, WYE +12.3% (Pfizer in talks to buy Wyeth – WSJ), ROH +2.5% …gold is moving higher… and don’t forget the ultrasorts, those are usually higher on weaker futures.

Pre-Market Gap down – UCBH -29.0%, CRBC -22.2%, HOG -18.5%, COF -12.7%, TNL -10.6%, CYN -10.0%, MSCC -9.6%, WFR -7.5%, SNV -7.4%, AMD -5.9%, XRX -5.3%, ISRG -5.1%, GE -3.6%, SMTC -3.3%, SLB -2.7%, IBI -1.9%…BCS -18.0% ,…and the list on and on

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