Stocks to watch for Wednesday, May 7, 2008:
 

  • Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported fiscal 3Q earnings of $1.77 billion, or 29 cents per share, down 5.4% from $1.87 billion, or 30 cents per share a year ago. Ex one-time charges, Cisco earned 38 cents per share, beating analyst estimates. Sales came in at $9.79 billion. The company guided in line with expectations, but many analysts remain cautious on this name.
  • DirecTV (DTV) posted 1Q net income of $371 million, or 32 cents a share, up 10% from $336 million, or 27 cents a share a year ago. The company also said it will raise up to $2.5 billion of debt to buy back up to $3 billion of its own stock, reported the Associated Press. DTV said revenue climbed 17 percent to $4.59 billion from $3.91 billion citing HD and DVR service demand in the US.
  • Disney (DIS) reported fiscal 2Q net income of $1.13 billion, or 58 cents a share, up 22% from $931 million, or 44 cents a share a year ago. Revenue grew 10 percent to $8.71 billion. The company said television ratings and ad revenue were dragged by the writers strike, but strong international sales of shows such as "Grey's Anatomy" boosted overall revenue.
  • Legg Mason (LM) reported a fiscal 4Q net loss of $255.5 million, or $1.81 a share, compared with a profit of $172.5 million, or $1.19 a share a year ago citing, among other things, a $291 million in charges for losses in money-market funds. It also took $94.8 million in charges to reduce the value of acquired-management contracts held by Bruce Sherman's Private Capital Management unit, according to The Wall Street Journal.
  • Sprint Nextel (S) and Clearwire (CLWR) are teaming up, along with a few other backers, in a $14.5 billion venture to bring faster Internet access to cellphones and laptops than what is currently available with WiMax technology, reported The Wall Street Journal. Sprint plans to invest $3.2 billion in CLWR, which will provide the technology for the faster service. After the deal, Sprint will hold around 51% of the firm, existing Clearwire shareholders will own 27% and the new investors will hold 22%.


Market Recap
 

  • Asian trading closed with the Hang Seng -2.48%, Nikkei +0.38%, Sensex -0.19%, Taiwan +0.78% and Shanghai -4.13%.
  • Looking over at Europe, we see the CAC +0.65%, DAX +0.83%, FTSE +0.61%, ATX +1.54%, Swiss Mkt. +0.43% and Stockholm +0.67%.
  • In commodities, crude oil is trading lower -0.23 to 121.61 and gold is also down -7.8 to 869.0 this morning.