Investors aren't holding back this morning in celebrating Research In Motion's rare earnings beat late Thursday, with the stock up about 15 per cent in premarket trading at $8.25 (U.S.).
That's a bit below the high of $8.60 reached earlier in the premarket and the high of $8.90 hit in the post market on Thursday.
Nevertheless, those who went short on RIM prior to its earnings release thinking the troubled BlackBerry maker's financials would never again beat expectations will no doubt be glad when this day is over.
The company, of course, is still far from being healthy. While better than expected, its loss of $235-million (U.S.) in the latest quarter was largely a result of cost-cutting and the share bounce largely represents diminished analyst expectations.
Some analysts are reconsidering their stance on RIM, however, in the wake of the results. National Bank Financial this morning upgraded RIM to "outperform" and raised its target to $12 (U.S.) from $8.
RIM's expected surge when North American trading begins will help out the S&P/TSX index, but much of the rest of the market isn't nearly as upbeat. U.S. stock futures are modestly lower this morning amid more worries about Europe's debt problems and the ability of recent quantitative easing measures to pull the global economy out of its slump.
Futures stayed in the red as U.S personal income and spending data were released at 0830 a.m. The figures came in largely as expected.
Now, here's the rundown of what else you need to know before the trading day gets underway:
MARKETS:
Equities:
Futures: Dow -0.4 per cent, S&P 500 -0.36 per cent, Nasdaq -0.28 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index +0.37 per cent
Shanghai Composite index +1.44 per cent
Japan's Nikkei -0.89 per cent
London's FTSE 100 +0.01 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.62 per cent
Germany's DAX index -0.11 per cent
Commodities:
WTI (Nymex Nov) +0.02 per cent at $91.87 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Dec) +0.03 per cent at $1,781.00 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Dec) +0.16 per cent at $3.75 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar down 0.0011, or 0.01 per cent, at $1.0187 (U.S.)
STOCKS AND ECONOMIC INDICATORS TO WATCH:
Statistics Canada reported on the gross domestic product in July, showing a 0.2 per cent increase from June. That slightly beat the Bloomberg forecast for a 0.1 per cent gain.
The U.S. Commerce Department said U.S. personal income rose 0.1 per cent in August, while personal spending rose 0.5 per cent. Both were close to expectations.
(0945 a.m. ET) The Institute for Supply Management releases its September Chicago purchasing-managers survey. Economists expect little change from the previous month.
(0955 a.m. ET) Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for September is released. Economists expect a reading of 79.0.
(1200 p.m. ET) Spain will present the results of stress tests on its lenders.
Nike shares are down 3 per cent in the premarket after the company reported its profit fell 12 per cent in the latest quarter as higher costs outweighed strong sales.
Walgreen reported a 55 per cent slide in profits in its latest quarter. Its shares are down 2.6 per cent in the premarket.
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING READS ON THE WEB:
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For more analyst actions, breaking investing news and analysis, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at#eyeonequities
Darcy Keith