Stocks Hold to Gains

Entertainment giant Disney (DIS Quote) reported decreased earnings, in part because of a charge related to debt owed by bankrupt brokerage Lehman Brothers. Fellow entertainment firm Discovery Communications (DISCA Quote) beat Wall Street estimates on both the top and bottom lines, and offered in-line guidance for its fiscal 2008 revenue.

Construction management firm Fluor (FLR Quote) reported a large rise in third-quarter income.

Meanwhile, communication equipment manufacturer Qualcomm (QCOM Quote) announced falling profit and lowered its forward outlook.

Telecom firm Sprint Nextel (S Quote) swung to a third-quarter loss but announced it renegotiated terms of a credit facility and cut its debt levels.

Beyond earnings, Microsoft (MSFT Quote) CEO Steve Ballmer said that his company doesn't intend to work out a merger deal with Yahoo! (YHOO Quote), according to a report by Bloomberg.

Elsewhere on the merger front, Panasonic (PC Quote) and Sanyo Electric announced they were discussing a potential deal.

Looking at the financials, The Wall Street Journal reported that troubled insurance giant AIG (AIG Quote) was working with federal officials to potentially alter the terms of an $85 billion loan the government gave to AIG.

In analyst actions, JPMorgan cut 2009 earnings estimates on Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) and Morgan Stanley (MS Quote). The reduction in the Goldman estimates was tied to private-equity losses.

In commodities, crude oil was gaining 32 cents to $61.09 a barrel. Gold was adding $2.30 to $734.50 an ounce.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were falling in price. The 10-year note was down 18/32, yielding 3.75%, and the 30-year was lower by 20/32 to yield 4.23%. The dollar was higher vs. the yen, but softening against the euro and pound.