[R]9:45AM Stocks opened moderately higher on robust earnings an deal news.[/R]
Wall Street opened slightly higher as robust corporate profit reports helped offset some negative sentiment generated by weaker-than-expected economic growth in Q3.

Retail shares gained, led by strength in home electronics retailers. Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC: chart) rose 2.4% after it was upgraded to overweight from neutral by J.P. Morgan. Best Buy Co. (BBY: chart) rose 1.7% after an upgrade to outperform by Credit Suisse. Drug maker chain Rite Aid (RAD: chart) rose 3% after reporting a narrower fiscal Q3 loss amid stronger pharmacy sales and improved prescription volume. the compony posted a loss of $6.82 million, or a penny per share, vs. a loss of $12.5 million or 2 cents per share last year. Analysts predicted a loss of two cents a share on revenues of $4.27 billion. The drug maker chain reiterated its 2007 profit forecast.

American Greetings (AM: chart) said its Q3 profit rose sharply, helped by gains from the consolidation of some its retailers. The company said profit rose to 83 cents a share, up from 19 cents a year ago, exceeding estimates of 35 cents a share. Income from continuing operations came to 78 cents a share. The stock jumped 6%. ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG: chart) rose 5% after the maker of Healthy Choice meals reported Q2 earnings that beat expectations. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 16.26, or 0.13%, to 12,480.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2.42, or 0.17%, at 1,425.95, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 4.70, or 0.19%, at 2,432.31. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.59% from 4.60% late Wednesday.


[R]9:30AM The FTSE 100 shed 5.5 points at 6,193.1 in late morning trade.[/R]
Advancers

Financial stocks were upbeat. Old Mutual gained 1.6%, Alliance & Leicester advanced 1.3% and Royal & Sun Alliance edged higher 1%.

Housebuilders were also higher after Persimmon restated its numbers. Persimmon advanced 0.1%, Taylor Woodrow moved higher 2.5%, Berkeley Group added 2.2% to and Crest Nicholson rose 1.2%.

Decliners

Shares in Vodafone were under pressure as dealers took in reports of a potential multi-billion dollar bid offer for an Indian mobile operator. Vodafone plunged 2.40%.

Mining stocks sagged as metals prices weakened. Rio Tinto shed 1.2% and Kazakhmys dipped 0.9%.

British Energy, having conceded this week that repair work at two of its major power stations would keep them from operating under full capacity until March, shed 1% as it was downgraded to neutral from overweight by JP Morgan.

Burren Energy declined 4.3% as the death of Saparmurat Niyazov, president of the gas rich Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan, sparked fears over the exploration group’s assets there.


[R]9:00AM Stocks futures traded up, despite slower economic growth in Q3[/R]
U.S. stock market futures erased some of the earlier gains but kept above the flat line after a government report showed that the economy grew at a slightly slower pace in Q3 than previously reported. The Commerce Department said GDP grew at a 2% annualized pace in Q2, down from an earlier estimate of 2.2% growth. In another report, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose 9,000 to 315,000 last week.

In earnings-related news, Nike (NKE: chart) reported an 8% profit rise, driven by 10% sales growth, but gross margins were flat from the year-ago period, at 43.4%. Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY: chart) unveiled a less-than-forecast 6% profit rise on 12% sales. The company posted Q3 net earnings of 50 cents a share, up from 45 cents a share a year ago, missing estimates of 52 cents a share. Accenture (ACN: chart) is expected to advance after the consulting firm reported a 32% profit rise and lifted its annual profit outlook. General Mills (GMS: chart) reported a stronger-than-forecast 4% profit rise and lifted its annual profit outlook.

In merger-and-acquisition news, defense contractor Raytheon Co. (RTN: chart) confirmed it would sell its Raytheon Aircraft Co. unit to GS Capital Partners and Onex Partners for about $3.3 billion. Europe’s biggest drug maker GlaxoSmithkline said it would buy U.S. biotech company Praecis Pharmaceuticals Inc (PRCS: chart) for an agreed $54.8 million. S&P 500 futures were up 0.4 points, above fair value. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 6 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.75 points.


[R]Third-quarter GDP rose at a slower-than-expected 2% pace.[/R]
The Department of Commerce released its final report on third quarter gross domestic product on Thursday, showing that the pace of GDP growth was unexpectedly revised downward compared to the previous estimate. The report showed that GDP growth was revised down to 2.0 percent compared to the preliminary estimates of 2.2 percent growth. Economists had been expecting the pace of GDP growth to be unrevised from the previous reading. The revised reading reflects a more notable slowdown compared to the 2.6 percent pace of GDP growth reported for the second quarter.

The Commerce Department said that the downward revision to third quarter GDP growth primarily reflected a downward revision to consumer spending on services. The report also showed that the slowdown in the pace of GDP growth compared to the second quarter reflected an acceleration in imports and a larger decrease in residential fixed investment. Decelerations in consumer spending on services, private inventory investment, and state and local government spending also contributed to the slowdown in GDP growth. At the same time, increases in equipment and software spending, consumer spending on durable goods, and federal government spending helped to offset some of the slowdown.

[R]Initial jobless claims rose by 9,000.[/R]
Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended December 16, showing that jobless claims rose roughly in line with economist estimates. The report showed that jobless claims rose to 315,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 306,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to increase to 315,000 from the 304,000 originally reported for the previous week. At the same time, the Labor Department also said that the less volatile 4-week moving average fell to 325,750 from the previous week''s revised average of 327,750. The report also showed that continuing claims in the week ended December 9 rose to 2.520 million from the preceding week''s revised level of 2.475 million.