7:58 am - Wall Street mixed after earnings reports

DJIA going up on bad news !!! That's gotta to be good !



Wall Street mixed after earnings reports NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street closed out an impressive week with a mixedperformance Friday after disappointing high-tech earnings punctured some ofinvestors' enthusiasm over better-than-expected bank earnings reports. But themajor indexes still ended the week with big gains, the result of rising optimismabout the troubled financial sector. The market was clearly pleased when Citigroup Inc., while reporting asecond-quarter loss Friday morning, beat analysts' forecasts and joined WellsFargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in delivering stronger results than themarket anticipated. But investors who ecstatically sent the Dow Jonesindustrials soaring by more than 480 points over Wednesday and Thursday werebrought back down to earth by results from Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. andAdvanced Micro Devices Inc. Google's results were lower than expected, the result of the weakeningeconomy hurting advertising revenue, while Microsoft missed forecasts by apenny. Also, AMD's chief executive stepped down after the chip maker posted awider-than-expected loss. Still, the market that has hungered for good news about financial companiesafter a year-long credit crisis got it from Citi. The banking company reported a$2.5 billion second-quarter loss due to write-downs tied to deteriorating creditmarkets. The results surpassed projections, and helped to mitigate some of themarket's concerns following a big loss from Merrill Lynch & Co. reported lateThursday. It was a good sign to some analysts that the market didn't sell off sharplyafter two straight days of hefty gains. "If you look at the fundamentals, not a lot of changed in the fundamentals,but you had the financial crisis come to a head," said Philip Dow, managingdirector of equity strategy at RBC Dain Rauscher. "This was a pivotal week thatwe just went through, one that perhaps marked a bottom for the financial crisis.That doesn't mean we're about to have a bull market, but maybe a break in thepronounced selling that's been going on." More banks are among the companies reporting next week: Wachovia Corp.,Washington Mutual Inc. and Bank of America Corp. And hundreds of other bigcorporations will also be releasing results, keeping the market on edge asinvestors try to determine whether an economic rebound might be in the offing. The Dow rose 49.91, or 0.44 percent, to 11,496.57, adding on to a 483-pointgain Wednesday and Thursday. Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose0.36, or 0.03 percent, to 1,260.68, and the technology-focused Nasdaq compositeindex dropped 29.52, or 1.28 percent, to 2,282.78. For the week, the Dow rose 3.57 percent, the Nasdaq increased 1.95 percent,and the S&P rose 1.71 percent. Bond prices fell Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note,which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.09 percent from Thursday's 4.00percent. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell. Meanwhile, oil prices retreated after rising earlier in the session. Abarrel of light, sweet crude fell 41 cents to settle at $128.88 on the New YorkMercantile Exchange. Oil's huge pullback this week -- dropping about $16 over three days -- alsofed Wall Street's big rally. Stock investors have been worried that consumersforced to pay more for necessities including fuel and food will continue to cutback on their discretionary spending, something that would further hurt astruggling economy. While the week on Wall Street showed that a market long pummeled by badeconomic news can quickly turn around, there have been many times over the pastyear when a huge gain quickly evaporated at the first sign of trouble. So whilemany investors felt that it was safe to lay down some bets this week, everyoneon the street is mindful that there can be further steep losses ahead. "Considering the strength we had in the past few days, the market ishandling itself quite nice and trying to hold on to the gains," said PeterCardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house AvalonPartners. "Investors are also positioning ahead of a barrage of earnings andeconomic reports due next week." Certainly, it was a week of extremes -- the Dow had its biggest two-daypercentage gain since October 2002 but it also, on Tuesday, had its first closebelow 11,000 in two years. And until investors get a more steady stream of goodeconomic and corporate news, such extremes may well continue. Google fell $52.12, or 9.8 percent, to $481.32 after it posted disappointingresults late Thursday. Microsoft dropped $1.66, or 6 percent, to $25.86, whileAMD fell 65 cents, or 12.3 percent, to $4.65. Financial stocks were mixed. Merrill rose 18 cents to $30.91, after itswider-than-expected loss, while Citi added $1.38, or 7.7 percent, to $19.35after its better-than-anticipated loss. Honeywell International Inc. fell 20 cents to $50.66 after it reportedsecond-quarter earnings rose 18 percent and surpassed forecasts. The aerospacecompany also boosted its 2008 forecast. Mattel Inc. surged $2.38, or 13 percent, to $20.66 after the toymaker saidits reported profit was cut in half, but still beat Wall Street expectations. Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Thursday it willbuy rival generic drug company Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. for more than $7billion, in a move to expand its presence in U.S. and Eastern European markets.Teva rose $1.82, or 4.4 percent, to $42.87, while Barr shot up $6.26, or 11percent, to $63.43. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.55, or 0.51 percent, to693.08. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 8 to 7 on the New York StockExchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.49 billion shares, down from anunusually heavy 7.17 billion on Thursday. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.65 percent. Britain's FTSE 100rose 1.70 percent, Germany's DAX index added 1.78 percent, and France's CAC-40rose 1.74 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week up 396.03, or 3.57 percent,at 11,496.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished up 21.19, or 1.71percent, at 1,260.68. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week up 43.70, or1.95 percent, at 2,282.78. The Russell 2000 index finished the week up 18.13, or 2.69 percent, at693.08. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index -- a free-float weighted indexthat measures 5,000 U.S. based companies -- ended Friday at 12,850.50, up 215.07points, or 1.70 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 15,695.74. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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