Futures Point to Lower Open, Stocks to Watch: AAPL, F, LMT

Published on Monday, 07 December 2009 08:44 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, Dec 6^th (TradersHuddle.com) – U.S. stock futures point to weak open, as the Dollar run and investors’ concerns that the stronger economy will make the Fed raise interest rates sooner, take center stage.

It will be interesting to see if the rally’s previous leader Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to under perform the overall market, reducing investor appetite for tech shares. The technology sector has been a big player on the market upside move, especially since the summer.

A big boost from overseas is unlikely as Asian shares finished mixed; however Japan’s Nikkei stock average finished at a 6 week high.

Another stock to watch is Ford (NYSE:F), which announced that it intends to sell as much as $1 billion of shares, according to a filing with regulators. The automaker has recently benefited from the other Michigan automakers woes to gain share and return to profitability, the company recently announce good earnings with an improved outlook, which have send shares higher, therefore the equity sale seems logical.

Also keep in the radar screen Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT): The Pentagon announced on its web site that the  world’s largest defense company won a $329 million Joint Strike Fighter contract modification that will pay for special tooling and test equipment.