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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (369877)	2/5/2008 9:33:15 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1572560

Oh boy, another 'buying opportunity'! U.S. stocks head for lower open By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer U.S. stocks headed for a steep pullback Tuesday after a reading of the service sector came in weaker than expected, stirring unease about the health of the economy. The Institute for Supply Management's report on service sector growth for January came in well short of Wall Street's forecast. The index came fell to 41.9 for January from 54.4 in December. Analysts, according to Dow Jones Newswires, had expected a reading of 52.5. A showing below 50 indicates contraction. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost ground a day after the Dow fell more than 100 points. The decline came after steep gains last week. The weak ISM report came after some investor enthusiasm over Microsoft Corp.'s bid for Yahoo Inc. appeared to dissipate Tuesday. Banc of America Securities lowered its rating on Yahoo to neutral from buy, saying the proposed acquisition could run up against regulatory challenges, according to Dow Jones. The bank said regulatory difficulties could be steepest in the European Union. Dow futures, which had been moderately lower before the ISM report, fell 137, or 1.09 percent, to 12,475. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 16.30, or 1.18 percent, to 1,362.50, and Nasdaq 100 index futures declined 15.25, or 0.83 percent, to 1,811.50. Bond prices jumped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.55 percent from 3.64 percent late Monday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell. Light, sweet crude oil was down $1.44 at $88.58 a barrel in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil lost ground after the ISM report suggested the economy may be slowing more than expected and as investors. Stocks fell overseas. Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.82 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.89 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.86 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.55 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 2.21 percent. In corporate news, Whirlpool Corp. said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 72 percent as the appliance maker benefited from its 2006 acquisition of Maytag as well as the weak dollar and an improved mix of products. Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. said it swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $458 million as costs from its acquisition of Guidant Corp. almost two years ago continued to dent results. A year earlier, the company earned $277 million. In the same quarter a year earlier, Boston Scientific posted a profit of $277 million, or 19 cents per share. Tyco International Inc. said its fiscal first-quarter earnings declined 54 percent from results a year earlier, which benefited from the diversified manufacturer's health care and electronics businesses. The company has since sold those operations. News Corp., the media conglomerate, said Monday that stronger results from its Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel helped boost fiscal second-quarter profits and offset weaker returns from movies and TV production. The company's earnings rose 1 percent to $832 million. ___ On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: nasdaq.com