NEWS BRIEFS

Market Wrap-Up

The bulls took early control of the market this week, as stocks experienced their best day since May 1st.

Economic Reports:

Treasury Budget is at $159.3 billion for the month of April, down from $177.7 billion the prior month.

MBIA Inc. reports a huge 1st-qtr loss of $13.03/share, drastically down from earnings of $1.46/share in the year ago qtr - Full story.

Sprint Nextel reports a 1st-qtr loss of $0.18/share, wider than the $0.07/share loss from the same qtr last year - Full story.

HSBC Holdings PLC reports that 1st-qtr profits were up from the same period last year, despite a $3.2 billion write-down on subprime mortgages - Full story.

IndyMac Bancorp reports a 1st-qtr loss of $2.27/share, a wider loss than what was predicted by market analysts - Full story.

Fujitsu reports fiscal 4th-qtr net profits of $502.1 million, down 39.9% from the same period last year - Full story.

FedEx Corp. cut its expected fiscal 4th-qtr earnings expectations, blaming increasing fuel costs - Full story.

Hewlett-Packard is nearing a deal to acquire Electronic Data Systems for between $12 and $13 billion - Full story.

Cablevision Systems Corp. will purchase the Newsday newspaper from the Tribune Co. for $650 million - Full story.

Major overseas markets have posted higher results for Monday. London's FTSE was up 0.26%, Frankfurt's DAX closed up 0.47%, and Paris' CAC finished up 0.32%. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.64%; Hong Kong's Hang Seng did not trade today, and Sydney's All Ordinaries Index finished up 0.85%.

Economic Calendar:

Tues: Export and Import Prices, Retail Sales, and Business Inventories;
Wed: CPI;
Thurs: Initial Jobless Claims, NY Empire State Index, Capacity Utilization, Industrial Production, and Philadelphia Fed;
Fri: Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Michigan Sentiment (Prel).

Aaron Jacobs - News Editor
aaron.jacobs@mworld.com

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