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Stocks Mixed In Early Trade

Weakness in tech issues spilled over into the broader markets in early trade Friday, leaving stocks mixed.

At 9:59 a.m. EDT, the Nasdaq was down 0.8% and the Dow lost a fraction. A 6% slump in Microsoft () weighed on both indexes. The NYSE composite rose 0.4% and the S&P 500 0.1%.

Volume was tracking a tad higher on both exchanges.

Deckers Outdoors () gapped up and surged 18.65 to 136.10. Late Thursday, the footwear maker said Q1 profit rose 18% to 86 cents a share, a dime above views. Sales climbed 34% to $97.5 million, also above views. Results were boosted by solid demand for its Ugg and Simple brands. The company raised its full-year outlook for profit and revenue growth of 27% and 31%, respectively, from 20% and 25%.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan () rose 2.21 to 196.11 in fast trade. Credit Suisse raised the Canadian fertilizer maker’s price target to 210 from 157. Potash slumped 10% Thursday despite reporting strong earnings and raising its full-year outlook.

Visa () gapped up and gained 3.09 to a new high of 75.35. The credit card issuer reports fiscal Q2 earnings Monday. Analysts see profit rising 92% to 46 cents a share. Visa came public in March at 44.

On the downside, NBTY Inc. () gapped down below its 200-day and 50-day moving averages. Shares plunged 7.31, or 21%, to 26.93 in busy trading. After Thursday’s close, the nutritional supplements maker said fiscal Q2 earnings fell 19% to 67 cents a share, hurt by higher costs. That was also 8 cents below views.

Western Digital () gapped down and sliced its 50-day moving average, shedding 2.73 to 28.52 in heavy trading. Late Thursday, the hard drive maker delivered a 132% surge in fiscal Q3 earnings and a 50% gain its sales. But it guided fiscal Q4 profit below views.

9:15 a.m Update: Stocks Set For Split Open

By VINCENT MAO

Stock futures pointed to a mixed open Friday following another round of earnings reports. Nasdaq futures eased a fraction of a point vs. fair value, S&P 500 futures climbed 4 points and Dow futures rose 58 points.

Crude oil bounced back from Thursday’s 2% loss after militants attacked another oil pipeline in Nigeria. The June contract rose 94 cents to $117 a barrel.

The sole piece of economic data is the revised University of Michigan sentiment index due out at 10 a.m. EDT.

Baidu.com () rallied 6% in the pre-market on strong sales and a bright outlook. Late Thursday, the Chinese Internet search firm delivered Q1 earnings of 67 cents a share, excluding items, up from 32 cents a year before and in line with views. Sales more than doubled to $81.9 million, above views. It also guided Q2 sales ahead of analysts’ estimates.

Citigroup upgraded Baidu.com shares to buy from hold and raised its price target to 415 from 350. Baidu is forging a new base and might be adding a handle.

American Express () climbed 4% in the pre-open despite a dip in its latest quarterly earnings. After Thursday’s close, the Dow component reported Q1 profit of 81 cents a share, down 5% from a year ago but in line with views. The credit card firm’s bottom line was hurt as more cardholders missed payments amid rising prices and tough economic conditions. Provisions for loan losses rose 52% to $881 million.

Group mate and recent IPO Visa () rallied 5% in the pre-market.

Fellow Dow member Microsoft () fell 4% in the pre-market on lower-than-expected sales. Late Thursday, the software giant reported fiscal Q3 profit of 47 cents a share, down 4% from a year earlier but 3 cents above views. Sales were mostly flat at $14.45 billion vs. views for $14.5 billion. The company guided current quarter results in line with estimates.

CF Industries () also lost 4% in the pre-open after it missed views. After Thursday’s closing bell, the fertilizer maker delivered first-quarter earnings of $1.99 a share, excluding items. That was

Stocks Down, But Paring Losses

The major stock indexes lingered in the red Friday, but they have come off session lows.

At 10:50 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq tumbled 2.1%. It was down 2.5% earlier. The NYSE composite lost 1.3%. Meanwhile, the Dow and S&P 500 gave up 1.2% each.

Volume was tracking slightly lower on both exchanges.

In economic news, the University of Michigan sentiment index dropped to 75 vs. 80.9 in October, the lowest since Oct. 2005.

Comtech Group () gapped below its 50-day moving average, dropping 3.49, or 17% to 17.35. The Chinese mobile handset maker got hit despite reporting better-than-expected earnings late Thursday.

JA Solar Holdings () gave up 7.36 to 62.20 in brisk trading. The solar cells maker is also down, despite stellar third-quarter earnings and sales. It also raised its full-year sales outlook.

On the upside, Merck () gapped up, gaining 1.85 to 56.62. The drug maker said it settled the bulk of its Vioxx lawsuits for $4.85 billion.

Manitowoc () jumped 1.06 to 42.96, nearing its 50-day line. Shares of the crane maker got a lift on news that it’ll be added to the S&P 500 index after the close Nov. 15.

Atheros Communications () bucked the tech sell-off. Share rose 0.76 to 32.60. The chipmaker rebounded after finding support at its 50-day moving average.

10:15 a.m. ET Update: Stocks Stumble At Open; Techs Hit Again

By Vincent Mao

Stocks were down big in early Friday trading.

At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq dived 2.1%, taking out Thursday’s low. The NYSE composite dropped 1.6%, the S&P 500 1.4% and Dow 1.3%.

Tech and Internet leaders continued to bleed.

Research In Motion () gapped down 6.74, or 5%, to 117.74.

Google () fell hard for a third straight session. Shares gapped down, tumbling 28.31 to 665.81.

VMware () gapped down and dropped 6.88 to 85, sinking further below its 50-day moving average.

Meanwhile, Geo Group () gapped down, falling 4.07, or 14%, to 28.08 in huge trading. The prison operator reported Q3 earnings and sales ahead of views and it announced new contracts. But the company’s Q4 guidance disappointed.

On the upside, Dolby Laboratories () gapped up and rallied 4.30 to a new high of 43.72. Late Thursday, the audio technology firm smashed views with a 77% jump in fiscal Q4 earnings. It also guided full-year 2008 profit and sales ahead of analysts’ estimates.

9:15 a.m. ET Update: Stocks Set For Early Slide

By Vincent Mao

Stock futures pointed to a sharply lower open Friday amid continued credit woes. Nasdaq futures dropped 39 points vs. fair value, S&P 500 futures lost 18 points and Dow futures gave up 24 points. And that’s off their lows.

In economic news, the trade balance for September narrowed to -$56.3 billion, the lowest in over 2 years. Economists expected -$58.5 billion.

The preliminary read on the Michigan sentiment index for will be out at 10 a.m. ET. A dip to 80 is expected.

The dollar hit a new record low against the euro and was weaker against the yen.

Wachovia () is down about 3% in pre-open trading. The bank said in an SEC filing that its portfolio of collateralized debt obligations fell by $1.1 billion in October. And due to continued weakness in the credit markets, it plans to boost its provision for loan losses to between $500 and $600 million.

Merrill Lynch (), Citigroup () and Morgan Stanley () all have announced write-downs recently.

Gmarket () tumbled 11% in the premarket. Late Thursday, the South Korean ecommerce firm reported Q3 profit of 13 cents a share, up 8% from a year ago, missing views. Sales, which were affected by a holiday, also came in shy.

Qualcomm () lost 7% in pre-open trading. After Thursday’s close, the wireless communications firm delivered fiscal Q4 earnings and sales ahead of expectations. But it guided full-year 2008 profit from $2.03 to $2.09 a share, below views of $2.18. That’s partly due to a patent dispute with Nokia (), which is affecting royalties.

Priceline.com () jumped 15% in pre-market trading. Late Thursday, the online travel firm trounced views with a 119% surge in third-quarter profit. Sales grew 33%, the best in many periods.

Perini () rallied 8%. Late Thursday, the construction services firm reported a 142% surge in Q3 earnings and a 61% rise in sales. It also guided raised its full-year earnings outlook to $3.30 to $3.45 a share vs. views of $3.10. Sales are pegged from $4.4 billion to $4.6 billion, also above views.

EU and U.S. reach preliminary accord on Atlantic routes

PARIS: The European Union said Friday that it had reached a preliminary agreement with U.S. negotiators to all but eliminate restrictions on trans-Atlantic air routes, marking a significant breakthrough in talks aimed at increasing the number of flights Д and lowering fares.

The EUs transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, said the European Commission had made “decisive progress” in talks with U.S. representatives in Brussels this week toward concluding a hard-fought “open-skies” agreement, saying that he intended to submit a draft proposal to European transport ministers on March 22.

The U.S. Congress must also back the deal before the new rules would take effect on Oct. 28.

“We have an opportunity to unlock major benefits on both sides of the Atlantic,” Barrot said in a statement. “The open aviation area could be a centerpiece for a reinvigorated trans-Atlantic relationship.”

An EU-U.S. accord would allow European airlines to fly into the United States from anywhere in the bloc, which has 27 member nations, instead of from just their home country.

At the same time, restrictions on U.S. airlines flying to Europe would be loosened, effectively removing barriers that now grant only two U.S. airlines Д American and Delta Д the right to fly into London Heathrow Airport.

Announcing the deal in Washington, the U.S. transportation secretary, Mary Peters, said it would “offer more choice and convenience” to consumers.”

The commission says the deal could generate 26 million additional trans- Atlantic passengers over the next five years, generating up to \12 billion, or $15.8 billion, in economic benefits, and creating a combined 80,000 new jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

The trans-Atlantic market represents 60 percent of global air traffic, according to the International Air Transport Association.

The outline of an agreement was reached in November 2005, but the deal stalled after Brussels said it would only implement it if the United States made changes to U.S. rules governing foreign ownership of American airlines.

The Bush administration tried for more than a year to persuade Congress to approve such changes Д which limit equity ownership by foreign airlines in U.S. carriers to 25 percent of the voting stock Д but abandoned the effort in December amid fierce opposition from labor unions and several U.S. airlines.

The commission said Friday that the United States and EU had agreed on “rights in the area of ownership, investment and control of U.S. airlines by EU investors,” although it did not provide details.

But an EU official, who asked not to be named because the deal has not yet been approved, said Washington had agreed to allow EU airlines to acquire more than 50 percent of the total capital of a U.S. airline without risking a legal challenge from the U.S. government.

Washington can now block investments that exceed such limits on national security grounds.

The official said the change does not change the 25 percent cap on voting equity for EU airlines that buy stakes in U.S. carriers.

According to the EU official, the commission said the United States had also agreed to drop current rules that restrict the rights of EU airlines to buy into airlines in other, non-European countries that have bilateral aviation agreements with the United States.

If an EU airline buys, for example, an African carrier, the buyer cannot now automatically acquire the right that the African carrier may have to fly to the United States, because Washington would view it as a European airline.

The commission said the draft agreement would grant a number of other new rights to EU carriers, including the right to fly from the United States to non-EU countries and to have access to the “Fly America” program for the transport of passengers and cargo financed by the U.S. government.

Airline industry officials cautiously welcomed news of the preliminary accord.

“Its a step in the right direction,” said Anthony Concil, a spokesman for IATA in Geneva.

“Wed like to see quick implementation, followed by progress toward further liberalization.”

The Association of European Airlines, which represents carriers like British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, said the draft agreement appeared to show U.S. movement toward meeting EU demands on investment and ownership.

“Our initial reaction is that there seems to be a substantially improved balance in the wording of the agreement,” the AEA secretary general, Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, said in a statement.

Jim Berard, a spokesman for Representative James Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota and chairman of the House transportation committee, was also cautious.

“We are very interested in examining the letter of agreement,” Berard said.

Singapore Market Steady Despite Global Turmoil

Although recent credit problems in the US have led to a global market crisis, Singapore remains largely unaffected. The Singapore dollar was weakened briefly on Thursday, only to bounce back again by Friday. As for the foreign exchange markets, Singapore has been watching the unfolding drama with close observation. This is, perhaps, the reason for the city-state’s stable economy. Reports Forbes:

The MAS [Monetary Authority of Singapore] said it ‘has not needed to conduct any extraordinary operations in the markets. However, we stand ready to act if the situation warrants.’

Read more: «www.forbes.com»

A vacation spot where gals get guys in line

In today’s modern society, we assume women have taken more control over their lives than ever before, and the phrase “it’s a man’s world” sounds downright quaint these days. But apparently we’re dead wrong, as some Chinese officials think the concept of “woman power” should be turned into a tourist destination.

Yes, Chinese tourism authorities are seeking investment to build a novel concept attraction the world’s first “women’s town,” where men get punished for disobedience.

The 2.3 square kilometer Longshuihu village in the Shuangqiao district of Chongqing municipality was based on the local traditional concept of “women rule and men obey,” a tourism official told Reuters.

“Traditional women dominate, and men have to be obedient in the areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing, and now we are using it as an idea to … boost tourism,” said the official, who was identified only with the surname Li.

The tourism bureau plans to invest up to $39 million in infrastructure, roads and buildings, Li said.

“We welcome investors from overseas and nationwide to invest in our project,” he added.

When tour groups enter the town, female tourists would play the dominant role when shopping or choosing a place to stay, and a disobedient man would be punished by “kneeling on an uneven board” or washing dishes in a restaurant, Chinese media reports said.

The motto of the new town would be “Women never make mistakes, and men can never refuse women’s requests.”

Now that’s a breaking-news flash right there.

Not-so-bad ideas
- When the aliens finally invade Earth, you may wish you had listened to Travis Taylor and Bob Boan.After all, they have written “An Introduction to Planetary Defense,” a primer on how humanity can fight back if little green men wielding death rays show up at our cosmic doorstep.And yes, they’re serious.”The probability really is there that aliens exist and are old enough to have technology to enable them to come here,” Taylor said in an interview.Taylor and Boan are hardly basement-dwelling paranoids obsessed with tinfoil hats and Area 51. Taylor holds advanced degrees in astronomy and physics, and is an associate at consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He and Boan have done consulting work for the Defense Department and NASA.But their views have won few audiences outside of science fiction conventions, and their book is published by BrownWalker Press, which specializes in fringe topics.Taylor and Boan along with co-authors R.C. Anding and T. Conley Powell have crunched the numbers, and they claim it is possible that our Milky Way galaxy harbors thousands of intelligent alien species and that there is a “high probability” that one or two of them visit Earth every century.Taylor and Boan started thinking about how to respond to an aggressive extraterrestrial attack during a 2001 discussion about defending against terrorist attacks. “One thing that popped into my mind was that the only way Americans would be in an asymmetric war on the other side would be if we were attacked by aliens. Everyone chuckled, but then after a minute the comments started setting in,” Taylor said. “Then we really got to talking about it and we thought, well, you know, we really might need this contingency plan anyway,” Taylor said. Just don’t tell us we really need to learn that Spock neck-pinch thing now.
- A restaurant-bar in Taiwan is letting visitors order “medicine” from a menu and dripping it into their glasses from a transparent ceiling-suspended vat.As many as 10 visitors can sit around a hospital bed at the D.S. Music Restaurant, a medical-themed eatery, and watch showgirls dance on weekend nights or chat up “nurses” in starched white uniforms.The 130-seat restaurant in Taipei features crutches hung from the walls and a wheelchair parked in the lobby.Other touches include a sign marked “emergency room” leading to the toilets.”Food is hard to compete on with other restaurants, so the part we emphasize is service,” says assistant manager Ou Chia-hao, brother of the 29-year-old owner who opened D.S. Music last year to express his enthusiasm for the care he got at a hospital when he was treated for a liver disorder. “In Taipei, pressure on people is high, and they want a place near home where they can feel relaxed.”But it might be hard to chill out when the nurse/waitress is probably yelling into the kitchen, “Two sirloins, medium-well, STAT!”

2007 MSNBC InteractiveTHe Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.