Stocks hestitate after GE & Citigroup earnings

Markets found little reason to continue their recent rally. Dow slipped 13, advancers & decliners were equal while NAZ fell 13. MLPs were up, the index gained 1 while the REITs index was down 1. Junk bonds were strong & oil was up modestly. Just another mixed day.

The big news continues with financials & that was mushy at best. Banks are even:

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 147.40

Change 0.12

% Change 0.1%

Citigroup (C), Dow stock, reported the smallest loss since 2007, their version of good news. Citi lost 18¢ in Q1, beating the street estimate of 34¢. The loss came from massive loan losses & paying divs on preferred stock. However, Citi made $1.6B before preferred divs, again, their version of good news. The big story following their earnings was not looking at company businesses, but Citi announced it's delaying exchanging $B worth of preferred shares into common shares until its "stress test" is completed in early May. The stock is down pennies at 3½, far from the 25 price one year ago.

•Citigroup $1.6 Billion Earnings Beat Estimates on Trading, Accounting Rule
•Citigroup Delays Preferred Stock Swap Until After Government Stress Test


General Electric (GE), another Dow stocks which is really a whopper size financial company, saw its profits fall 36% due to its troubled financial business. Fortunately it has a major industrial business to help it get thru these uneasy times. Like Citi, it's down pennies on the news. Earnings at GE Capital were 1.1B (at least it was profitable), down 58% from last year. GE Capital's real estate business, including lending & holdings in commercial real estate, was especially hard hit. The unit posted a $173M loss compared to a $476M profit last year. Jeff Immelt, CEO, said GE believes it won't have to raise new capital to prop up GE Capital.

•GE Profit Tops Estimates as Engine, Energy Sales Offset Real Estate Losses


The global recession is biting hard in Japan, the 2nd largest economy in the world. Toshiba, maker of my 3 notebooks, last night estimated their loss for the year would be 350B ¥ ($3½B), higher than the previous estimate of 280B ¥. They will cut back their workforce again, after a reduction last month.

Toshiba expects bigger loss, contract job cuts

- AP - Fri 4:43 am ET

Dow made it above 8K, but its still struggling to put distance between it & the new floor. Citi & GE had wishy-washy earnings, not the kind of reports to build confidence.


Dow Jones Industrials --- YTD