S&P 500 & Nasdaq Analysis and Trends

[Stock]

Turbulent Trading Extended

Friday , November 09, 2007 08:03ET

By Matt Cavallaro, Knobias
[e-mail]

The latest string of debt instrument write-downs is weighing on futures Friday morning. S&P 500 futures declined 13, to 1462, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 17, to 2088, and Dow industrial futures slipped 100, to 13162. On Thursday, the Dow (-33.73), S&P (-0.85), and Nasdaq (-52.76) recovered from steep intraday losses while technology showed uncharacteristically sector-wide weakness. The trade deficit, import prices, and Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey is on tap for today. Wachovia Corp. (WB) took a $1.1 billion pretax write-down during October of it's CDOs. Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) 4Q earnings nearly doubled to $1.13 billion, up from year-ago earnings of $614 million, thanks to a large tax gain. European shares are mostly lower and Asian shares ended mixed; the Nikkei lost 1.19%, the DJ Shanghai slipped 0.94%, and the Hang Seng tacked on 0.08%.

ECONOMY
Friday, November 9
Sep Trade Deficit, in dollars (Prev. -57.59B) (Exp. 59B)
Oct Import Prices (Prev. +1%) (Exp. +1.2%)
Nov Reuters/Univ of Michigan Survey

TOP STORIES
-- Wachovia Corp. (WB) took a $1.1 billion pretax write-down during October of it's CDOs.
-- Merck & Co. (MRK) agreed to pay about $4.85 billion to settle claims linked to it's Vioxx painkiller.
-- After the bell Thursday, Walt Disney Co. (DIS) reported net income of $877 million, or 44 cents a share, compared to $782 million last year, or 36 cents a share, thanks to strength at its ESPN division.
-- Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) 4Q earnings nearly doubled to $1.13 billion, or 67 cents a share, up from year-ago earnings of $614 million, or 36 cents a share.

FOREIGN MARKETS
European shares are mostly lower and Asian shares ended mixed; the Nikkei lost 1.19%, the DJ Shanghai slipped 0.94%, and the Hang Seng tacked on 0.08%.