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U.S. stock futures were lower this morning, pointing to a weaker start Thursday following a reprieve Wednesday. Concerns over financials toll center stage again as oil continued to swing higher. Some economic data released later today may affect trading as well: Philadelphia-area poll of activity for August, leading indicators for July and weekly jobless claims.

Investors continued to fear nationalization of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), each of which declined 27% and 22% Wednesday respectively. FNM and FRE are declining about 4.5% and 9% respectively in premarket trading. Jim Cramer thinks trading in the shares should be stopped for fear of manipulation as the short-selling rules ended.

Staying with financials, Citi lowered its third-quarter earnings estimates for Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) as it fears further writedowns, and a weaker business flow in addition to the seasonal slowdown. It cut its price target on Lehman to $35 from $50, but kept as Buy. Citi forecasts write-downs of $2.9 billion for Lehman, $1.8 billion for Goldman and $1.7 billion for Morgan Stanley.

As if that wasn't enough to raise concerns, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Reserve called Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) last month to check a rumor that the bank was preparing to pull a line of credit for Lehman Brothers, which CS told the FED wasn't true. At least this shows the Fed is serious about taking and implementing the moral authority it should be.

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, indicating markets could start on a positive note after two days of declines. Good results from Hewlett-Packard helped lift sentiment, overshadowing financial sector concerns, despite new worries over Fannie and Freddie. Oil remained steady ahead of inventory report later today.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) shares are rising over 3% in premarket trading after the computer maker reported a 14% rise in fiscal third-quarter earnings and issues current-quarter earnings guidance that exceeded analyst estimates. Tech shares could get a boost from H-P.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) remain in focus due to concerns that a government bailout of the two firms is inevitable and would mean wiping out investors. Freddie Mac on Tuesday was forced to pay its steepest borrowing premium in 10 years, which is raising fresh concerns about its ability to withstand the housing and credit crisis without government help.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is cutting fixed-price seller listing fees. eBay will now charge 35 cents to list any number of the same types of fixed-price items. This is a dramatic change from charging fees based on item price.

U.S. stock futures were lower Tuesday morning, indicating stocks would likely start the same. Investors' concerns about the financial sector dampened sentiment, but oil prices continued to decline and could offset some of the negative mood. Still, housing and inflation data are on tap before the market opens today. And of course earnings with The Home Depot already beating investors' expectations this morning but with Staples issuing a warning.

A day after smaller Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) reported a profit drop, The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) followed suit, reporting a 24% profit decline for the second quarter. It held onto its earnings outlook as second-quarter net fell 24% to $1.2 billion, or 71 cents per share. Sales declined 5.4% to $21 billion. Analysts had projected earnings per share of 61 cents on revenue of $20.58 billion. Home Depot shares rose 2% in premarket trading.

U.S. stock futures turned higher Monday morning despite a dip in the dollar and oil prices rising somewhat. Investors may focus on the financial sector again following some news while they await housing data later today. More inflation data is due Tuesday.

UnionBanCal (NYSE: UB) accepted a sweetened bid from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MTU). After rejecting two previous offers, UB accepted MTU's offer to pay $3.5 billion, or $73.50 a share, for the remaining 35% portion of the California bank that it doesn't already own. UB shares are trading 11.85% higher in premarket action.

Staying in financials, Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) may see some action after The Wall Street Journal said some analysts believe it could lose $1.8 billion during the quarter. LEH shares are 2% lower in premarket trading. Meanwhile, Barron's said a government recapitalization of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) is almost inevitable, wiping out investors -- and management. Shares are 2% and 6% lower respectively in premarket trading.

Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), the home improvement retail chain, reported results this morning. Lowe's profit fell for the fourth straight quarter as the biggest U.S. housing slump since the Great Depression slowed spending. Net income declined 7.9% to $938 million, or 64 cents a share, exceeding analysts' estimates by 8 cents. Sales rose to $14.5 billion from $14.2 billion. Lowe's raised guidance, but stayed within estimates.

U.S. stock futures were higher Friday morning, indicating stock markets could possibly extend Thursday's rally as the dollar rose and oil prices fell further. The dollar continues to make gains on the back of growing evidence of global economic softness. Still, several economic readings are due out today, including the New York Empire State manufacturing index , capacity utilization and industrial production -- all before the opening bell.

Retail will be in focus today after two Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) reported late Thursday, and J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) are due to report before the opening bell.

Kohl's Corp shares could start higher as premarket indication has them trading 2.3% higher, while Nordstrom's are trading 4% lower in premarket action. Kohl's quarterly profit fell 12% from a year ago, but the retailer lifted its fiscal year profit forecast. Meanwhile, upper scale Nordstrom, reported a 21% drop in second-quarter profits and cut full year outlook.

ANF said second-quarter profit fell on lower sales of jeans and T-shirts and forecast full-year earnings per share that trailed some analysts' estimates. JCP also saw profit decline but beat estimates and issued lower guidance.

Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) shares are trading 10% higher in premarket action after the design software maker reported stronger-than-forecast second-quarter earnings Thursday after the close.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) stock finished the day up nearly 11%, or $1.09 to $11.35 after two days of losses. It seems that overall sentiment for blue chip stocks was stronger today as buyers looked for bargains. With the recent slide in oil prices, including another decline today, many stocks previously hit by the runup in oil prices, like car companies, found themselves back in favor.

But that's just the beginning. Ray Young, GM's chief financial officer, spoke with analysts Wednesday evening at a JPMorgan automotive conference, saying efforts are being made to speed up cost savings. GM, he said, may be able to reap more of the $10 billion in projected savings this year instead of in 2009.

With the faster savings, the plan to boost GM's liquidity seems more plausible, and the solvency problems less severe. Young's announcement came right after Moody's Investors Service lowered GM's credit rating, and seems it was indeed small comfort. Some analysts believe that the chance of a bankruptcy is lower than is priced in, despite balance sheet and operating concerns.

Bloomberg reports that CEO Karmazin said Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) will eliminate executive positions to cut costs. No doubt, after the only two U.S. satellite radio companies merged, there are some redundancies. He also said the company could report $300 million in earnings next year excluding some items.

What's more, Sirius XM will introduce new products. Perhaps these will include what the blogosphere is buzzing about today -- a new Internet application that would stream Sirius XM to portable devices, namely the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, as noted by Citigroup's Tony Wible.

Apple's iPod and iPhone products, as well as other digital music players, have been named as competitors to satellite radio by Karmazin himself. If these reports are true, could he be trying to transform them from competitors into boosting the company's user base, creating a complementing, rather than competing, services?

Stock futures were higher Thursday morning, as bulls tried to answer to two bear days. Wal-Mart reported this morning, beating estimates and boosting guidance as well as Street sentiment. Still, coming ahead is inflation data at 8:30 a.m. Economists expect CPI to rise 0.4% in July, and could very well impact markets. Meanwhile, oil prices rose and the EU reported that euro-zone economy contracted 0.2% in the second quarter.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the world's largest retailer, reported a second-quarter earnings growth of 17% to of $3.4 billion, or 87 cents a share, beating analyst estimates of profit of 84 cents a share. Revenue rose 10% to $101.6 billion, slightly below estimates. The company also boosted its full-year earnings forecast. The company benefited from the challenging economic conditions as shoppers looked for lower prices. Its cost cutting measures also helped. WMT shares are gaining nearly 1.5% in premarket trading.

As Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares rose in recent years, many have tracked its progress as it surpassed one major company after another in market capitalization. Well, All Things Digital noticed that Apple can put another check mark, this time as it passed Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Yes, Apple is now larger than Google.

U.S. stock futures were mixed Wednesday ahead of retail sales, import price data and oil inventories reports. Analysts expect retail sales, to be reported at 8:30 a.m., rose 0.5% in July. Futures may find direction after the report. Meanwhile, oil futures rose ahead of the inventory report due out at 10:35 a.m., the dollar fell against some currencies and gold futures rose.
[Update: Following a decline in retail sales in July, futures turned lower.]

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has just reported quarterly results and shares sank 6.1% in premarket trade. The world's largest maker of farm machinery, said earnings in the latest quarter rose 7% and revenue increased 17% as soaring crop prices boosted global demand for its agricultural equipment. The company, however, missed on earnings and gave forecast that was lower than estimations.

Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) reported a net loss this quarter but beat estimates on an adjusted basis. It also issued a downside guidance.

Earnings are still due from Macy's (NYSE: M), among others.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares rose 7.3% in premarket trading despite reporting a $121 million loss Tuesday. Investors liked that Nvidia announced a stock buyback of $1 billion and predicted margin improvement.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) also rose, up 1.2% in premarket trading after the largest maker of semiconductor-production machinery forecast better-than-estimated orders and CEO Mike Splinter said conditions will improve. Its fiscal third-quarter profit plunged 65%, but sales results beat estimates.

U.S. stock futures were mixed Tuesday morning following more negative news out of the financial sector: J.P. Morgan announced a $1.5 billion write-down, UBS a loss, while Wachovia and Morgan Stanley are dealing with auction rate securities. However, oil futures declined further to near $113 a barrel, offsetting financial sector woes and pushing stock futures higher. Russia halted its attacks on Georgia, signaling a cease-fire could come near.
[Update 9:09: Seems lower oil wasn't enough to offset financials' concerns and futures now indicate stocks could start flat to lower.]

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it suffered more substantial third-quarter losses related to the hard-hit mortgage sector than it did in the second quarter and had to take a $1.5 billion write-off on mortgage-backed securities and loans.

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS), one of the hardest hit banks in the subprime mortgage crisis, said Tuesday that it had further losses and writedowns of $5.1 billion during the second quarter of 2008.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) said late Monday that it will offer to buy back up to $4.5 billion of auction-rate securities from retail clients, following similar announcements from rivals. The broker also said it will make whole any losses suffered by retail clients who bought auction-rate securities through the firm and try to provide liquidity solutions for institutional investors.

Wachovia (NYSE: WB) said Monday it plans to cut 600 more jobs than it previously expected as it works to reduce expenses in the face of staggering losses tied to mortgage debt. It also revised lower its second-quarter loss by $500 million pretax due to auction rate securities settlements.

LDK Solar Co. (NYSE: LDK) American Depository Shares are jumping nearly 20% to $40.01, up from a close of $33.58, after the solar wafer manufacturer reported second-quarter results after the close.

LDK experienced some 200% sequential growth in net earnings to $149.5 million, or $1.29 per ADS. Even excluding the change in fair value of prepaid forward contracts, the company earned 82 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. That beat -- more like trounced -- analyst estimates of 40-42 cents a share. Revenues for the quarter were $441.7 million, up 345.9% year-over-year from $99.1 million, beating consensus of around $282 million.

The China-based multicrystalline solar wafer, solar cells and solar modules manufacturer said additional manufacturing capacity, which exceeded its own expectations, allowed the company to sell more solar wafers.

LDK didn't just beat estimates, it also raised guidance. It sees third-quarter revenue of $486-496 million vs. consensus of $307.05 million. It raised its 2008 revenue estimate from $1.08-1.18 billion to $1.65-1.75 billion. This is again far higher than analysts estimates of $1.15 billion.

LDK has been a hot stock in a hot sector. Its shares have enjoyed a wild ride in 2007 as concerns over soaring oil prices and global warming have boosted the sector, culminating in LDK recording a 52-week high of $76.75 in late September of '07. Since then, new concerns over Spanish government cutting subsidies sent solar stocks lower.

The effect of these lower subsidies on the sector and LDK remains to be seen as perhaps they could be offset by orders from other European countries. LDK, though, is also trying to control its raw material costs by building polysilicon plants, the progress of which has been "tremendous" according to the company.

U.S. stock futures were a little higher this morning following Friday's rally. Oil futures have been rising again due to the Russian-Georgian conflict and the dollar retracted from the five-month high set Friday. Global markets were mostly higher although China's hit a 19-month low.

Waste Management (NYSE: WMI) is expected to raise its unsolicited cash offer for rival Republic Services (NYSE: RSG) by nearly 10% to $6.73 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and two unions agreed on a new three-year contract Sunday, averting a possible strike of 65,000 workers. The new contract provides 10.5% wage increases and changes in retirement benefits.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) reported an 8% decline in second-quarter profit after the market close Friday. The investment group attributed the decline to fewer insurance premiums and $1 billion in unrealized derivative losses.

U.S. stock futures drifted lower Thursday morning on the heel of another big loss reported by AIG. With reports today that mortgages made in 2007 are going bad at a rapid pace, the blow to the financial system may be even deeper than Wall Street had estimated, and data on June pending home sales could give more information about the recent state of the housing market. Also in focus today will be July same-store sales announced by retailers, which could show a 2.2% gain due to stimulus checks and back-to-school shopping, as well as rate decisions by ECB and BOE. The latter already kept rates the same. Finally, rising oil prices could affect trading as well.

AIG (NYSE: AIG) posted its third straight quarterly loss Wednesday after the close. Analyst believe that this quarter's $5.56 billion recorded loss due to investments related to mortgages could continue in the next few quarters. AIG's results didn't just cause investors to dump the stock, but also caused overall jitters about financials. AIG shares are down over 9% in premarket trading. In Europe, Allianz, Axa, Aegon, three of the biggest insurers, also post lower earnings on asset writedowns.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) reported a 28% profit fall in the quarter, 39% drop in operating profit. The company said the strong yen and rising costs of materials for the decline in addition to soft conditions in the U.S. all contributed to these results. While it said it plans to offset the declines by launching new vehicle models and stepping up production of popular models, it's unclear how successful that would be in light of softening economic conditions worldwide.

Staying with the auto industry, The Wall Street Journal reported that Chrysler and Nissan Motors (NASDAQ: NSANY) are in talks tabout jointly producing midsize cars, where Nissan would produce midsize sedans that Chrysler would sell in the U.S. under its own name.

U.S. stock futures were mixed Wednesday morning after Tuesday's big rally. Bigger-than-expected losses at mortgage lender Freddie Mac, which caused it to cut dividends, as well as lower profit at Time Warner dampened mood on Wall Street. Meanwhile, oil held above $119 ahead of inventory report later today, but crude futures were slightly higher.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), the second-largest U.S. mortgage-finance company, posted a larger fourth-quarter loss of $821 million, or $1.63 a share, than analysts estimated as delinquencies rose and cut its dividend to shore up capital. The common-share dividend will be reduced to 5 cents from 25 cents. Bloomberg writes that CEO Syron is "seeking to bolster capital and restore confidence after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was forced to step in with a rescue plan for Freddie and the larger Fannie Mae." So, first, I doubt investors have much confidence in Syron after reports surfaced he ignored warnings. Second, is Wall Street really surprised the mortgage buyer disappointed? That its credit-related expenses doubled from the previous quarter? Haven't we been there before? FRE shares are down 8.7% in premarket trading at last check.

Meanwhile, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) also reported this morning, saying second-quarter earnings fell 26% to $792 million, or 22 cents per share (24 cents on adjusted basis), on declining subscriber fees at its AOL online unit and lower ad revenue at the Time publishing business. Revenue was 5% higher at $11.6 billion. Thomson Financial says analysts expected profit of 23 cents per share on revenue of $11.46 billion. TWX affirmed its full-year financial targets after revenue rose at its film, cable and networks segments.

Following the demand of one of Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO)'s largest shareholders, Capital Research Global Investors, to review the vote in last week's re-election of the Internet giant's board, Yahoo! has now released the corrected numbers this afternoon. To recount, Capital Research Global Investors couldn't understand how Jerry Yang received 85.4% supporting votes when the fund's 16% holding was withheld.

Yahoo! acknowledged the error, blaming it on a tabulation error by Broadbridge. The new count shows much more disdain for several members of the board. Specifically, CEO Yang went from 85.4% support to 66.3% in the new count, Roy J. Bostock and Ronald W. Burkle went from 79.5% and 81.2% respectively to 60.4% and 62.1% respectively.

While this doesn't change anything except to show the board doesn't have the same approval from shareholders, it seems there are still some open questions. Barron's Eric Savitz brings concerns from Mithras Capital, an investment firm that owns 1.7 million Yahoo shares, regarding 200 million fewer votes in this year's vote compared to votes in the past two years.

The possible explanation is that the ballots that voted the Icahn slate before his agreement with Yahoo's board were voided and therefore not all shareholders were represented. Mithras Capital then wonders whether some members of the board wouldn't have been re-elected had these votes been counted.

Regardless, after several delays of the meeting as well as a "tabulation error," more questions are left unanswered and this whole vote leaves a really bad taste and lowers -- even further -- shareholders' confidence in Yahoo's board and management.