Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Monday, March 4:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting Wall Street would open lower Monday, following global stocks to the downside after Chinese stocks dived amid moves to cool a heated housing market.

European stocks were falling in early trading while Asian shares ended Monday's session mostly lower. The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 3.7% to 2,273.40 after China's Cabinet ordered new measures to cool surging housing prices.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index, however, gained 0.4%.

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2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Monday is bare.

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3. -- U.S. stocks on Friday finished higher as better-than-expected manufacturing and consumer sentiment data trumped President Obama's warnings about the economic impact of $85 billion in automatic spending cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35.17 points, or 0.25%, to close Friday at 14,089.66. The blue-chip index closed up 0.64% for the week.

The S&P 500 rose 3.52 points, or 0.23%, to finish at 1,518.2. The Nasdaq gained 0.3% on Friday.

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4. -- For the first time, Warren Buffett appears concerned he will underperform the S&P 500 when it comes to his favorite way to peg the performance of his investing conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A).

In Berkshire Hathaway's annual letter to shareholders, Buffett outlined why he is worried a rising stock market will put the firm's performance below that of the S&P 500 over a five-year stretch.

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5. -- A federal judge ruled that jurors miscalculated nearly half the $1 billion in damages it found Samsung owed Apple (AAPL) for patent infringement.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh wiped out $450 million from the verdict and ordered a new trial to reconsider damages related to 14 Samsung products jurors in August found were using Apple's technology without permission, The Associated Press reported. Koh said jurors had not properly followed her instruction in calculating some of the damages.

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6. -- Rig owner Transocean (RIG) swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as revenue at the Swiss company rose 9% to $2.33 billion.

Adjusted profit, excluding items, was 91 cents a share in the fourth quarter.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 82 cents a share on revenue of $2.36 billion.

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7. -- HSBC (HBC) said Monday that full-year net profit fell by 17% in 2012 as it paid almost $2 billion in fines to settle a money-laundering case brought by U.S. officials.

HSBC said 2012 pretax "underlying profit," which doesn't take into account charges, was $16.4 billion, up 18% from a year earlier.

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8. -- Tech Data (TECD) is expected by analysts Monday to report earnings of $1.76 a share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $7.22 billion.

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9. -- Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) is expected by analysts Monday to post a quarterly loss of 3 cents a share on revenue of $21.9 million.

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10. -- Dennis Rodman said North Korea leader Kim Jong Un told him that President Obama should do one thing: ""He asked me to give Obama something to say and do one thing. He wants Obama to do one thing, call him," Rodman said.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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