3Com, communications-technology company, posted 4Q loss of 15 cents per share compared with 5 cents last year on higher expenses after acquisition.

BMC Software, enterprise-management software firm, reported 4Q decrease in profit of 7 cents a share vs. 16 cents for the comparable last-year period due to lower demand. Analysts had expected a profit of 10 cents per share.

CHC Helicopter reported 4Q earnings decline to 44 cents a share compared with 61 cents last year.

PalmSource, mobile-device software company, posted 4Q net profit of $1.12 compared with a loss of 23 cents last year on large asset sale gain.

Research In Motion, reported 1Q doubled profit of 67 cents a share vs. 28 cents a year earlier on strong consumers’ interest in the company’s BlackBerry wireless-email devices.

Robbins & Myers, machinery maker, announced 3Q profit decline of 14 cents a share compared with 26 cents a year ago on weak pharmaceutical orders. The company cut its 2005 outlook from previous 85 to 95 cents a share to the range of 63 to 68 cents a share.

US Dataworks, developer of payment processing solutions posted 4Q loss of 5 cents per share vs. 1 cent for the prior-year same period.


OIL, METALS AND CURRENCIES

At the end of the day oil closed up 11 cents to $56.61 per barrel. Oil has receded from the recent record oil prices. However, the weekly Energy Department report showed that the U.S. continues to import record amount of gasoline and oil and demand is growing at least 2% a year.

Gold fund some buying in the morning hours but the after more than an hour of trading the gold is unchanged in the Nymex trading.