Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) raised $4 billion for a fund that invests in infrastructure projects, far exceeding the $2.5 billion target it has set. Other than ports, roads and parking lots, governments are spending more and more on infrastructure, especially water, electricity and telecommunications, and funds for such undertakings are greatly required.
Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) today introduced the BlackBerry Bold smartphone. While it was hailed an iPhone killer by some, the company continues to position the BlackBerry as a smartphone for business and heavy users, rather than try to cut into Apple's consumer market. According to RIM's statement, "the BlackBerry Bold is designed to give business professionals and power users unprecedented functionality and performance in an intuitive BlackBerry smartphone. It is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world and comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi, as well as a rich set of multimedia capabilities." If you wondered, the QWERTY keyboard is still there, but its most amazing feature is apparently the display. While RIMM is up 1.6% in premarket trading, some think it's in for a bruising.
And meanwhile, of course, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is continuing its push to bring the iPhone worldwide. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd said it and its mobile associates -- Bharti Airtel Ltd, Globe Telecom Inc and Australian unit Optus -- will bring the iPhone to Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines later this year as they had signed the agreement with Apple. As for the 3G iPhone, it may launch when Steve Jobs gives his keynote address on June 9, the first day of the 2008 World Wide Developers conference. While no announcement was made, Fortune has confirmed the date of the keynote with Apple public relations.
This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.
When you need to ship a package, which company first comes to mind? According to last year's Battle of the Brands non-scientific poll, an overwhelming majority said they favored United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) over FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX). Higher fuel surcharges, a weak economy, reduced domestic package volume, and a recent push from the U.S. Postal Service have impacted both of these international shipping companies in the past year, but Americans still want the same quality service at a discount price.
Let's take a look at a few changes since last year:
The US Postal Service Tries To Gain Ground
The largest player in the U.S. overnight package delivery business is attempting to increase its market share in the fast-delivery business next month. USPS is barely holding on to its 32% market share in the business, as FedEx and UPS continue to push the envelope at 31% and 25% market share, respectively. For the first time, shippers using Express Mail, Priority Mail, and several other parcel services will be able to get lower rates for large- and medium-volume contracts, according to the agency. Will UPS and FedEx need to cut their prices further to compete with the USPS?
Stock futures indicated a higher start earlier this morning following solid results from internet bellwether Yahoo late Tuesday. As earnings reports have started coming out this morning, though, stock futures have started to reverse direction.
Other than many earnings reports on tap today, investors may look at U.S. oil inventories when out later today after reaching nearly $120 a barrel (10 cents shy) Tuesday. Analysts expect supplies declined in the past week. So far oil has moved somewhat lower today, but remained near $118 a barrel.
U.S. stocks tumbled Tuesday following some disappointing results from several tech and consumer stocks. The Dow industrials dropped 104 points, or 0.82%, the S&P 500 fell 12 points, or 0.88%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 31 points, or 1.29%.
Despite many upcoming earnings reports, investors will likely continue to focus on Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), which has reported strong results, beating analyst estimates on both the top line and bottom line. Still, the results weren't phenomenal, or uncovered any surprising issue that might show it could fare better on its own. Yahoo! has until Saturday to accept Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s takeover offer of $31 a share or face a proxy fight. Microsoft has already said it wouldn't raise its offer, but of course, nothing is certain at the moment. YHOO shares are down about 0.8% in premarket trading.
For nervous investors and analysts looking for good news on the earnings front, it's been a week of mixed blessings. However, judging by the expectations for the following ten so-called barometers of the U.S. economy, or important sectors of it, things could be looking up. All these companies are scheduled to report quarterly results next week (April 21 to April 25).
These first six companies are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post growth in profits in the most recent quarter, compared to the same period of last year:
Stocks started out in slightly positive territory on what appeared to be more good news out of a major institution. Then oil inventories showed an unexpected decline, sending oil up up over $2.00 per barrel to $110.56 and later even above $112. Throw in a couple of weak earnings reports and the fears that earnings season is going to be tough, and the bears got to rule today.
Below are today's unofficial closing levels for major US index levels:
Dow: 12,328.49, down 0.38%; Nasdaq 2,322.12, down 1.13%; S&P 1354.56, down 0.8%
Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) saw a sharp drop today, and that was before the earnings news was out after the close. A Piper Jaffray downgrade led to the sharp drop today.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) proved to be a typical example of what is becoming redundant. The company lined up a sale of $12 billion of dollars worth of leveraged loans for some 90 cents on the dollar.
Shares of United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) fell after the world's largest shipper reduced its first quarter earnings forecast, citing a downturn in the U.S. economy and lower shipping volumes.
The warning, which came two months after the company told investors that it might miss its earnings guidance, isn't a huge shock and likely will be one of many to come during the current earnings season. After the close yesterday, UPS lowered its first quarter outlook to 86 cents to 87 cents from 94 cents to 98 cents, according to The Associated Press. Analysts were expecting earnings of 93 cents.
Pundits such as BB&T analyst John Barnes aren't finding fault with UPS.
"I don't think they misread anything. The market just got a lot weaker and oil prices shot up more aggressively than they thought,'' he told Bloomberg TV, adding that package shippers are "going to have to provide guidance with the assumption that oil prices are going to stay this high for the foreseeable future.''
Given that UPS is down about 3%, you have to wonder whether investors will be so forgiving to other companies.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) lowered 1Q 2008 guidance because of lower volume trends experienced in February continued through March.
Robert W. Baird & Co says: "Outperform rating maintained on attractive long-term growth opportunities and prospects for better 2009 with tailwind from new union contract, buyback, and prospects of a better environment."
UPS May option implied volatility of 25 is above its 26-week average of 22 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
5 Stocks Insiders Love If corporate managers and directors are buying their company's stock, maybe you should, too. They include Boston Scientific, Hanesbrands, Dow Chemical, McMoRan Exploration and Synaptics. Five Stocks Insiders Love - Kiplinger.com
Best Blue Chips for This Market The best way to boost your long-term returns is to buy when prices are cheap - and here are 5 excellent bargains -- 3M, DuPont, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The best blue chips for this market - CNNMoney.com
Stock futures were lower this morning, indicating the beginning of what could be another down day on Wall Street as more troubling news from the financial industry was reported, while UPS warned of a slowdown in its delivery business.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks ended lower following a revenue warning from Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), a lackluster earnings report from Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), a dividend cut from Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) and the Federal Reserve minutes, all of which affecting investors' sentiment. The Dow industrials closed 35 points lower, or 0.29%, the S&P 500 lost 7 points, or 0.51%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16 points, or 0.68%.
This morning, given the very light economic calendar consisting of February wholesale inventories at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Street will likely focus -- once again -- on the troubles in financials. The top story on the Wall Street Journal is about the options the Fed is considering to alleviate the credit crunch further including "contingency plans for expanding its lending power in the event its recent steps to unfreeze credit markets fail." While such plans aren't surprising and even welcome, the report comes after the Fed showed concern the economic downturn could last into 2009 when it released Tuesday the minutes of its FOMC meeting.
For the full year, the company forecast a profit of $1.85 to $1.87 per share. The consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial is for full-year earnings of $1.52 per share. In after-market trading yesterday, J. Crew shares rose $1.36, or 3.2%, to $43.96, and they continued to rise in morning trading to $46.17.
During a presentation to analysts and investors, heavy machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) forecast that the company's earnings per share will rise 5% to 15%, to between $5.64 and $6.18 per share, and that revenue will climb between 5% and 10% from the $44.96 billion it reported in 2007. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect profit of $5.89 per share on revenue of $48.2 million.
Caterpillar also said that the company's profit will rise between 15% and 20% from 2005 through 2012, and that sales will approach $60 billion by 2010. Caterpillar shares were up about 4% to $75.59 in morning trading.
With airline traffic steadily increasing, more and more of us are faced with the same question; How in the world am I going to fit all these things in our luggage? Maybe it is time to start thinking outside of the box, and instead of packing all our things, maybe we should just start to consider sending our belongs ahead of time and stop worrying about packing all of our things?
As I read Joe Brancatelli's (portfolio.com) article discussing airline baggage, I could not help think back to December when my girlfriend had her bags lost for over a week on a trip from Europe back to the states for Christmas. Inside this luggage we had all her clothes, as well as all of my family's Christmas presents. Since she was flying into the states on Christmas Eve, and the airline lost her bags for a week, we had no presents to give out on Christmas, and by the time they showed up, on New Years Eve, the Christmas magic was pretty much lost.
As we examined last week, airline delays last year were near an all time high, but as I mentioned in my article, the one thing that bothers me more than being late, is arriving without my luggage. While lost baggage rates stayed pretty steady last year, with 9 out of 1,000 passengers filing lost baggage claims, there are other reasons why we may should consider shipping instead of packing in the future.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: OptionXpress Holdings, Supertex and Syngenta were today's noteworthy initiations:
Merriman believes OptionXpress Holdings (NASDAQ: OXPS) has lost market share, and remains vulnerable on many fronts. They expect the competitive landscape will continue to intensify, pressuring margins and growth rates. The firm initiated shares with a Sell rating.
Morgan Keegan started Supertex (NASDAQ: SUPX) with a Market Perform rating, citing lack of near-term catalysts.
Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Bear, as they are positive on the company's defensive growth profile and valuation.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
HSBC initiated FedEx (NYSE: FDX) with a Neutral rating and $102 target and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) with an Overweight rating and $86 target.
Credit Suisse started Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA) with an Outperform rating and $140 target.
Before the bell: Futures higher as oil retreats, dollar strengthens
This post is part of our 
Stock futures indicated a higher start earlier this morning following solid results from internet bellwether Yahoo late Tuesday. As earnings reports have started coming out this morning, though, stock futures have started to reverse direction. .gif){kind=logo}
For nervous investors and analysts looking for good news on the earnings front, it's been a week of mixed blessings. However, judging by the expectations for the following ten so-called barometers of the U.S. economy, or important sectors of it, things could be looking up. All these companies are scheduled to report quarterly results next week (April 21 to April 25).
Shares of 
United Parcel Service
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Just how high will U.S. gasoline prices rise?
Nordstrom and Kohl's post smaller-than-expected Q1 profit declines
Oil hits record $127.43 on supply concerns, raised Goldman forecast
