Stock Market

With speculation and rumors running rampant that the Fed is considering another rate cut, the U.S. markets rose on Tuesday, with the DJIA and the NASDAQ both posting nice gains. Alcoa and American Express were the leaders, each gaining about 3%. When the Fed cut the rate last month, traders were in a frenzy soon after and all the markets showed wide growth. Another rate cut could send the markets into overdrive, especially with earnings season coming up, inflation fears subsiding a bit, and the subprime problem–while not having disappeared–at least dropping out of the spotlight.

One major company to already have released its earning report, YUM! brands, the company which owns KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and other fast food restaurants, got the season off by exceeding expectations and posting a 5% gain.

Here is a list of companies that are due to report this week:

Wednesday, October 10:

Audiovox (VOXX)

Costco (COST)

Infosys (INFY)

Monsanto Company (MON)

Ruby Tuesday (RT)

Thursday, Oct. 11:

M&T Bank Corporation (MTB)

PepsiCo (PEP)

Safeway Inc. (SWY)

SLM Corporation (SLM)

Friday, Oct. 12

General Electric (GE)

HDFC Bank Limited (HDB)

With so much action coming up in the following days and weeks, the end of 2007 looks to be exciting. Another major company in the news is Google (GOOG) whose stock continues to rise. Monday marked the internet giant’s first venture over the $600 per share mark, helped by Bank of America’s upgrade in its price target to $670.

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