BRIEFCASE.Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services Dow ekes out another record NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Wall Street closed essentially flat Thursday after struggling to resume a modest upward trend while investors juggled upbeat economic data, divergent earnings reports and a pullback Pullback A falling back of a price from its peak. This type of price movement might be seen as a brief reversal of the prevailing upward trend, signaling a slight pause in upward momentum. in Chinese stocks. The Dow Jones Dow Jones the best known of several U.S. indexes of movements in price on Wall Street. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 202] See : Finance industrials edged higher to a record close for the second straight day. While a mix of profit reports pushed and tugged at stocks Thursday, investors also watched markets abroad. Wall Street fell at the opening, then began to pare its losses after a research group said its barometer of future economic activity rose slightly in March, signaling modest growth in coming months. The Dow rose 4.79, or 0.04 percent, to 12,808.63 -- its sixth straight gain. On Wednesday, the Dow reached fresh trading and closing highs, perhaps signaling a recovery from a late February pullback that was in part triggered by a sell-off on the Chinese market. Wednesday's trading high was 12,838.46 and that session's close broke records set Feb. 20. Broader market indicators dipped Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.77, or 0.12 percent, to 1,470.73, a day after the S&P hit a 6 1/2 high. The Nasdaq composite index Nasdaq Composite Index An index that indicates price movements of securities in the over-the-counter market. It includes all domestic common stocks in the Nasdaq System (approximately 5,000 stocks) and is weighted according to the market value of each listed fell for the third straight session, slipping 5.15, or 0.21 percent, to 2,505.35. Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. earnings up 30% NEW YORK -- Merrill Lynch & Co.'s first-quarter profit soared more than 30 percent, the nation's largest retail brokerage said Thursday, thanks to strong revenue from investments and takeover activity. The results surpassed expectations, and cemented the notion that major financial companies have emerged unscathed from the stock market's turbulent first quarter, the cooling U.S. economy and troubles in subprime lending  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. .
Excluding a charge incurred last year related to a change in accounting and retirement policies, Merrill Lynch's profit climbed 31 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year ago. The New York-based company reported net income of $2.11 billion, or $2.26 per share, after preferred dividends. This was up from $432 million, or 44 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , a year ago, when it recorded $1.2 billion in one-time compensation expenses. Excluding those expenses, the company earned $1.61 billion, or $1.65 per share, a year ago. Merck & Co. Inc. Q1 profits grow TRENTON, N.J. -- Merck & Co. Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter profit jumped 12 percent, as the drug maker posted sharply higher sales of its asthma and cholesterol drugs, plus one-time gains from product divestitures. Meanwhile, the number of personal injury lawsuits in the massive litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. over the painkiller Vioxx, which Merck withdrew from the market in September 2004 due to increased risk of heart attack and stroke, declined slightly for the first time. The Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based maker of Fosamax for osteoporosis and Singulair for asthma and allergies posted net income of $1.7 billion, or 78 cents per share, up from $1.52 billion, or 69 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2006. Excluding a charge of 6 cents per share, or $186 million, for its ongoing global restructuring program, Merck said income would have been 84 cents per share. That matched the forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial Thomson Financial A major provider of information, analytical tools, and consulting services to the financial community. The firm, a division of Thomson Corporation, is best known to investors for its First Call segment, which publishes consensus earnings , who had bumped up their estimates last Thursday when Merck raised its earnings forecast by 15 cents. Oil prices drop on supply news NEW YORK -- Oil prices tumbled Thursday as traders focused on inventory buildups at a key Oklahoma oil terminal and on a general sell-off in May futures contracts, which expire today. Contributing to the decline was a consultant's report that Iraq oil reserves Oil reserves refer to portions of oil in place that are claimed to be recoverable under economic constraints. Oil in the ground is not a "reserve" unless it is claimed to be economically recoverable, since as the oil is extracted, the cost of recovery increases incrementally could be much larger than initially expected, and reports that China may take more serious steps to slow its economic growth. But forefront in traders minds were inventory concerns. A February fire that shuttered shut·ter n. 1. One that shuts, as: a. A hinged cover or screen for a window, usually fitted with louvers. b. Valero's McKee refinery in Texas has caused crude inventories to build up at an oil terminal in Cushing, Okla. The refinery had caused a bottleneck, said John Kingston, director of oil at Platts, a division of McGraw-Hill Cos. |
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