Stocks Futures Higher on Earnings Reports. Stocks to Watch: CIT, CSC, CVS, ETFC, HD, MOT, and TM

Published on Monday, 08 February 2010 08:41 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, Feb 8th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing slightly higher, after corporate earnings offset the sovereign debt woes. Investors’ concern on sovereign debt continued, especially in the euro zone. Investors fear that it will prompt a move to safe haven assets, shunning riskier and higher yielding assets like stocks.

Even as the economy and sovereign debt have taken centerfold, earnings season will continue this week with 56 S&P 500 index stocks reporting this week. Investors won’t see much in a way of new economic data until Wednesday, when the latest trade balance figures are released.

Today Stocks to watch:  CIT Group (NYSE:CIT), Computer Sciences (NYSE:CSC), CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS), E*Trade Financial (NASDAQ:ETFC), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Motorola (NYSE:MOT), and Toyota Motors (NYSE:TM).

CIT Group (NYSE:CIT), the troubled small business lender, jumped in European trading after naming former Merril Lynch chief John Thain as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The commercial lender emerged from bankruptcy in December and after almost a four-month search for a replacement, finally named its leader. Thain challenges with CIT are: find lower-cost sources of funding, lift restrictions on its banking unit, and win over regulators wary after the bankruptcy filing wiped away a $2.3 billion Treasury Department stake.

Shares of Computer Sciences (NYSE:CSC) may see some upside after a Barron’s article over the weekend. Barron’s reported that the IT consulting services provider for government, military and private networks may rise as much as 30% as industry and governments worldwide will increase spending on information technology. The company is set to release its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, with the average analyst estimate calling for a profit of $1.23 per share on revenue of $4.03 billion.

CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS), the retail and pharmacy services company rose more than in pre-market trading. The largest U.S. distributor of prescription drugs posted fourth- quarter profit excluding one-time items of 79 cents a share, beating the average analysts expected earnings of 78 cents a share. Revenue climbed 7% to $25.8 billion, but fell short of analysts' expectations of $26.22 billion. Retail pharmacy sales rose 4.5% to $14.5 billion, while sales at drugstores open at least a year rose 4.9%. Pharmacy services revenue jumped 14.5% to $13.5 billion, as it began to attract more business.

E*Trade Financial (NASDAQ:ETFC), the online brokerage announced it will reduce commissions for stock and option trades to $9.99 from $12.99. The new pricing will start today. Higher volume traders will continue to pay a rate of $7.99 per trade. E*Trade’s move come after a Superbowl ad blitz and will leave the company at the same level than other discount brokers, as the New York based firm looks to increase trades and online brokerage accounts, after deemphasizing its troubled  bank.

Shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD), the home improvement retailer pushed higher in pre-market trading after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company to “overweight” from “equal Weight”.  

Shares of Motorola (NYSE:MOT) may see some upside after a Barron’s article over the weekend. The article stated that the mobile-phone maker may rise as much as 40 percent during the next year if it spins off its mobile-phone unit and revenue from the radio and data- communications equipment division increases.

Toyota Motors (NYSE:TM), shares of the largest car maker in the world fell another 1.06% in Tokyo trading as the company is set to announce a worldwide recall on its famous hybrid car the Prius. The latest quality snafu is a design issue with the Prius braking systems. Investors have hit the shares heavily since all the recalls started as they mulled over how much of damage has the company endured in its quality reputation.