The stock market is looking for a strong open today, helped by strong earnings from tech giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), which is trading up 5% in premarket trading. Last night Microsoft announced that it had earned 50 cents a share for its fiscal second quarter, which was easily above the 46 cents that analysts had been expecting to see from the company. What has really been driving the stock higher ...

In response to growing concerns of an upcoming recession, the White House announced that it had tentatively reached a deal with Congress of an economic stimulus package. Part of the deal would include rebates of up to $600 for individuals, and $1,200 for couples. Along with these rebates, the deal will also include tax breaks for business investment. All said and done, the stimulus package could total $150 billion. What I ...

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported their fiscal first quarter earnings last night, and shares of the stock have taken a beating in extended hours trading. With about two hours to go before today's opening bell the stock is down a little under 10 percent, trading down right around $140. For its first quarter, the numbers looked great. The company easily beat analyst estimates, posting earnings per share of $1.76 for the ...

So the market is taking a beating once again today, but will tech giant Apple Computer (NASDAQ: AAPL) come to the rescue tonight when it reports earnings for its fiscal first quarter of 2008? Wall Street is looking to see the company show earnings of $1.61, but some analysts are already predicting that the company is going to have no problem shattering these estimates. According to Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner, we should ...

Oil prices have been moving lower today in reaction to bearish inventory data from the Energy Department. Going into today's inventory report, analysts had been looking to see a rise of 1.25 million barrels and were stunned to see the actual reserves rise by 4.3 million barrels. In reaction to today's report, prices have dropped down to $90.18, down $1.72 on the day, and for a brief period were trading under ...