Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to modest losses for Wall Street Tuesday ahead of a number of U.S. economic releases, including consumer confidence.

European stocks were trading mixed, while in Asia Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4% but Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped less than 0.1%.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. Tuesday includes the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index for November at 9 a.m. EST, and the Conference Board's January consumer confidence index at 10 a.m.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday.

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U.S. stocks ended Monday's trading session mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 14 points, or 0.1%, to 13,882, ending a streak of six consecutive positive sessions.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced slightly, finishing with a gain of 0.15%.

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Yahoo! (YHOO) reported a fourth-quarter revenue increase of 4% from a year earlier and adjusted profit exceeded analysts' expectations.

In the fourth quarter, search revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs came in 14% higher at $427 million. For the full year, search revenue ex-TAC was $1.61 billion, up 9% from last year.

For the first quarter, Yahoo! expects to generate between $1.07 billion and $1.1 billion in revenue. For the full year, Yahoo! expects sales of between $4.5 billion and $4.6 billion.

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Amazon.com (AMZN) is expected by analysts Tuesday to post fourth-quarter earnings of 27 cents a share on revenue of $22.26 billion.

The world's largest online retailer posted year-earlier earnings of $177 million, or 38 cents a share, on revenue of $17.43 billion.

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Ford (F), the second-largest U.S. automaker, is expected by analysts Tuesday to report fourth-quarter earnings of 26 cents a share on revenue of $32.96 billion.

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Drugmaker Pfizer (PFE) is expected by Wall Street Tuesday to report earnings of 44 cents a share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $14.4 billion.

Eli Lilly (LLY) is expected to post quarterly earnings of 78 cents a share on revenue of $5.81 billion.

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VMware (VMW) topped analysts' fourth-quarter revenue and earnings estimates but issued weaker-than-expected guidance.

It also disclosed it would cut 900 jobs in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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