Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. (GIFI: chart), a fabricator of offshore oil platforms, said that its fourth-quarter net earnings increased to $3.73 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with $2.7 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year ago period. Revenue climbed to $76 million versus $41.4 million in the same period a year earlier. The company also said it discovered an error regarding estimated revenue on the Tahiti contract, and determined that it had overstated both revenue and net income in the first three quarters of 2006. Shares fell 24.4%.

World Fuel Services Corp. (INT: chart), aviation and marine fuel products and services firm, said that its fourth-quarter net earnings increased to $17.3 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with $12 million, or 42 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $2.62 billion versus $2.53 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Shares fell 9.6%.

1:00PM European markets finished lower. Adecco, Deutsche Telekom dropped.
European stocks closed down on Friday, failing to sustain earlier gains for the second session in a row. Markets turned in their worst weekly performance in 4 years, depressed by various concerns, including China''s economy and U.S. mortgages. Among companies in focus, Adecco, the world''s largest staffing company, fell 4.6% on revenue coming in slightly below forecasts. Italy’s Mediaset was another notable decliner, falling 5% after the firm''s surprise announcement that annual gross advertising revenue dropped, followed by a brokerage downgrade. Deutsche Telekom fell 2.4% after Merrill Lynch downgraded its stock, citing deteriorating results. The German SAP slipped 2.2%. In France, Lagardere was the biggest loser, dropping 5.5% as the markets corrected Thursday''s late spike in the share price. Airbus owner EADS dropped 4% as UPS formally cancelled its order for A380 freighter planes. The French CAC 40 dropped 0.6% at 5,424.70 and the German DAX 30 slipped 0.6% at 6,603.32. The U.K. FTSE 100 index closed a fraction of a percentage point higher, at 6,116.20.


11:30AM Stocks gained some ground, helped by computer hardware stocks.
U.S. stock markets showed willingness to stabilize and gained some ground in late morning trading after heavy losses at opening on the back of surging Japanese yen. The recovery by the major averages was largely contributed by strength in the computer hardware, airline, and retail sectors. Palm (PALM: chart) rose 8.3% on acquisition speculations, while Dell (DELL: chart) shares gained 1.7% even after posting Q4 earnings drop of 33% and issuing a downbeat outlook. Financial stocks were among the worst performers. J.P.Morgan (JPM: chart) slipped 1.4%, Citigroup (C: chart) lost 1.4%, and American Express (AXP: chart) fell 0.8%. New Century Financial Corp. (NEW: chart), one of the largest U.S. lenders, dropped 3% after it said it is delaying filing its annual report with the SEC. The Dow, which has lost more than 400 points this week, was supported by 3.4% gain for the world''s largest insurer AIG (AIG: chart) on the back of eightfold earnings increase. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 10.25 points, or 0.08%, at 12,224.09. The Standard & Poor''s 500 Index was down 2.76 points, or 0.20%, at 1,400.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.19 points, or 0.30%, at 2,397.02.


9:45AM Wall Street opened steeply lower. Subprime lenders weighed.
U.S. stocks started trading in the negative, dragged by the rallying Japanese yen vs. the dollar and more unfavorable news for supbrime lenders. American International Group (AIG: chart) helped limit losses, rising 2% after the insurance giant reported a jump in net income, an $8 billion share buyback and dividend plan. Fueling jitters about the subprime mortgage market, New Century Financial Corp. (NEW: chart) fell 2.5% as it delayed the filing of its quarterly profit.

In the tech sector, Dell (DELL: chart) erased pre-market losses to gain nearly 1% as investors looked past a disappointing earnings report from the personal-computer maker. Novel (NVL: chart) was a notable decliner in the sector, falling 4.5% after reporting an unexpected quarterly loss and a 5% revenue decline. Immersion (IMMR: chart) soared 36% after the maker of touch sensation technology settled a patent dispute with Sony in a deal that will have its products used in PlayStation products. In the retail sector, Gap Inc. (GPS: chart) fell 3% after the company posted Q4 earnings drop of 35%. In the first hour of trading Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.62, or 0.16%, to 12,214.72. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 3.72, or 0.27%, at 1,399.45 and the Nasdaq composite index was off 6.80, or 0.28%, at 2,398.41. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.54% from 4.55% late Thursday.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures turned sharply lower on weak dollar.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a steeply lower opening on Friday, hurt by concerns over the dollar''s weakness versus the Japanese yen, and a downbeat outlook from Dell. Overseas markets made a mixed performance. The Shanghai Composite climbed 1.2%, recovering from the heavy drop, while the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.4% in Tokyo. European stock markets reversed from earlier gains to turn negative.

Among pre-market highlights, computer maker (DELL: chart) traded 3% down after reporting 33% profit decline in Q4. Again in the tech sector, Novell (NOVL: chart) shares dipped 3.9% in the pre-open after posting an unexpected quarterly loss and a 5% revenue decline. The retailers are expected to come under pressure, as Gap (GPS: chart) reported a 35% profit decline, reflecting weak sales and executive shake-ups. The company lowered its earnings forecast. On the side of the gainers, Dow component American International Group (AIG: chart) added 1% after the insurance giant reported higher net income. The company also announced a buyback plan which will allow AIG to repurchase up to $8 billion in stock. AIG said it will lift its common stock dividend nearly 20% a year. S&P 500 futures dropped 9.50 points to 1,395.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 22.75 points to 1,735.00. Dow industrials futures slid 77 points to 12,175.


8:30AM Asia finishes lower on Friday with Japanese stocks continuing the slide.
Asian markets finished mostly lower on Friday. The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 1.35%, to finish at 17,217.93. Sony dived 5.5% on weakness in the dollar versus the yen. The electronics company agreed overnight to end a $100-million patent battle with U.S. Immersion over vibration technology for game controllers and other products. Sanyo Eletric fell 2.6% on news that Lenovo Group and the Japanese consumer-electronics maker are recalling about 205,000 batteries used in Lenovo ThinkPad notebook computers.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index in China gained 1.2% to close at 2,831.53. Among the most actively traded companies, property developer China Vanke advanced 2.7% after shedding 5% in the previous session. Citic Securities, which was down 5.6% Thursday, surged 5.5% and Air China added 4%, regaining most of the 5.2% loss a day earlier.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.49% to 19,442.01. China Mobile rose 0.5% after investment bank UBS raised its target price for China biggest mobile operator by subscribers. China Unicom was up 1.6% and China Netcom climbed 1.7% after both fell 8% during the past four sessions.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, slipped 0.2% to 1,414.47, the Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange shed 0.1%, to close at 7,670.77, while Australian stocks suffered their fourth straight day of losses as the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 0.4% to 5,786.0.


8:15 AM Dell reported 33% profit drop in Q4.
Dell Inc. (DELL: chart) reported disappointing Q4 results, blaming weak sales of laptops and notebooks. The computer maker posted 33% net income drop to $673 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with $1.01 billion, or 43 cents per share a year earlier, as revenue fell 4% to $14.4 billion. The biggest revenue shortfall was in mobility products and desktop PCs, accounting for 58% of Dell''s revenue. Mobility products, including notebook computers, fell 2% to $3.8 billion. Desktop PCs posted an 18% drop in units year-over-year. However, quarterly earnings beat analyst expectations for earnings of 29 cents per share. Although Dell once again released weak financial results, it looks determined to solve the numerous problems and gain its once strong positions back, as well as its customers’ confidence. Dell also mentioned several turnaround plans, including streamlining operations, shortening product development cycles and developing new approaches to manufacturing and distribution. The computer giant still faces an accounting SEC probe, customer service complaints, several shareholder lawsuits and stiff competition from rivals. Dell’s shares slipped 3.1% in pre-market trading.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex loses over 2% in a large-cap sell-off.
The Sensex on BSE finished 273.42, or 2.08%, lower at 12,886.13. The market-breadth was very weak as there were almost two decliners for every gainer. For 922 stocks that advanced, 1668 stocks declined and 48 stocks were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, seven advanced and 23 declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,006.94, lower than Rs 4,397.01 crore on Thursday, while on NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,960.58, compared with Rs 10,061.04 crore on Thursday.

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