TODAYS PRIMER
Peter Schacknow, Senior Producer, CNBC Breaking News Desk
U.S. stock investors are clearly having trouble maintaining a positive outlook as Washington tries to deal with the “fiscal cliff” issue. Another late downturn left the Dow at its lowest close since July 25, the S&P 500 since August 2. President Obama meets with business leaders on the fiscal cliff today at the White House, and he’ll also answer questions about it (and other topics) at a White House news conference that’s set to begin at 1:30 p.m. New York time.
Today is the busiest day of the week for economic reports, with the government issuing October numbers for both producer prices and retail sales at 8:30 a.m. Retail sales are expected to register a 0.1 percent rise for October after a 1.1 percent increase in September, while the Producer Price Index is seen rising 0.2 percent for October (up 0.1 percent ex-food & energy), after a 1.1 percent jump in September (unchanged ex-food & energy).
The government is also out with September business inventories at 10 a.m., with economists expecting a 0.5 percent increase following August’s 0.6 percent jump.
At 2 p.m. — right in the middle of President Obama’s news conference — the Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the most recent FOMC meeting.
Weekly reports out today include the Mortgage Bankers Association’s report on mortgage applications at 7 a.m., and the Energy Department’s assessment of oil and gasoline inventories at 10:30 a.m.
Retailers Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Staples (SPLS) are among the companies set to issue quarterly earnings this morning, along with fire protection and security company Tyco International (TYC).
Retail will also be a theme of today’s after-the-bell earnings, with Limited Brands (LTD), Hot Topic (HOTT) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM) set to report this afternoon.
Dow component Cisco Systems (CSCO) leads our list of stocks to watch, reporting fiscal first quarter profit of $0.48 per share, two cents above estimates. Revenues of $11.88 billion were also slightly above consensus.
The company has rebounded from a 2011 stumble with four straight quarters of growth, which CEO John Chambers attributes to better cost controls and higher revenue from services.
Zynga (ZNGA) chief financial officer David Wehner has left the social games provider for an executive position at Facebook (FB). Zynga has given the CFO title to current chief accounting officer Mark Vranesh.
Mosaic (MOS) has cut its sales forecast for sales of phosphate and potash, because of uncertainty in its China and India markets. It says international crop nutrient demand has weakened since it issued its most recent guidance on October 2.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) says it is not pursuing a sale of the company or of any significant assets, contrary to market rumors. The chipmaker says it continues to believe in its current long term growth strategy.
Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) is seeing investor Carl Icahn up his stake in the video game maker for the fourth time in a little over a week. Icahn now holds 12.9 percent, up from the prior 11.69 percent.
Toyota (TM ) is recalling nearly 2.8 million vehicles to deal with two issues — one involving water pumps, the other, a steering shaft defect. Toyota says no accidents have been reported related to the two problems.
Papa John’s (PZZA) is the target of a $250 million class-action lawsuit involving allegedly excessive text messages. Papa John’s says the texts were sent by third party vendors and some franchises.
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