Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a flat open for Wall Street Friday while shares in Japan jumped after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a massive spending package.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.4% to close at 10,801.57 after Abe announced an anti-recession stimulus package of more than 20 trillion yen ($224 billion).

European stocks rose slightly. Most Asian markets finished Friday's session in the red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.4%.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. Friday includes import and export prices for December at 8:30 a.m. EST.

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U.S. stocks on Thursday climbed on optimism over an upbeat set of China trade numbers and hopeful comments on the eurozone economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 81 points, or 0.6%, to 13,471.

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American Express (AXP) said Thursday it was cutting 5,400 jobs, or about 8.5% of its work force, and would take fourth-quarter restructuring charges of $742 million.

Total charges in the quarter will amount to $594 million after taxes. American Express said that its fourth-quarter net income fell to $637 million, or 56 cents a share, from $1.19 billion, or $1.01 a share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items, American Express said fourth-quarter adjusted net income was $1.2 billion, or $1.09 a share. Analysts were expecting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.06 a share.

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Chevron (CVX) said Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings would be "notably higher" than third-quarter profit, getting a lift from bigger gains on asset sales and more oil and gas production.

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Wells Fargo (WFC) is expected by Wall Street to report fourth-quarter earnings Friday of 89 cents a share on revenue of $21.29 billion.

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Apple's (AAPL) Phil Schiller, the tech giant's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, reportedly nixed rumors swirling about a cheaper iPhone in an interview with The Shanghai Evening News.

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SAC Capital Advisors has told employees and business partners it is bracing for client withdrawals of at least $1 billion this year -- about 17% of the money the hedge fund manages for outside investors -- amid intense regulatory scrutiny of alleged insider trading, people briefed on the conversations told The Wall Street Journal.

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Ford (F) said Friday it is adding 2,200 U.S. salaried jobs this year, the most white-collar hiring the automaker has done in more than 10 years, according to the Detroit Free Press.

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Boeing's (BA) 787 Dreamliner jet suffered a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan on Friday, Reuters reported.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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