Milwaukee Professionals Association

TODAY'S PRIMER - CNBC.COM, August 3, 2012

TODAY'S PRIMER                            
CNBC.com

The Dow and the S&P 500 are on pace for their first losing weeks in four as we look ahead to the July employment report later this morning. The major averages have lost ground every day this week, and stocks are on pace for their biggest weekly drops since the beginning of June, nine weeks ago.

The jobs report will be released at 8:30 a.m. New York time, with economists expecting an increase of 95,000 non-farm jobs and the unemployment rate remaining steady at 8.2 percent.

At 10 a.m. New York time, the Institute For Supply Management will be out with its non-manufacturing index for July, with consensus forecasts calling for a reading of 52.0, barely changed from June’s 52.1.

Dow component
Procter & Gamble (PG) leads this morning’s list of corporate earnings, with results from Viacom (VIAB) and Washington Post (WPO) also on the schedule.

Knight Capital (KCG) is among the most prominent stocks and companies to watch this morning, as the trading firm continues to fight for survival after the Wednesday software trading glitch that cost it $440 million.

Dow component Kraft Foods (KFT) earned $0.68 per share for the second quarter, two cents above estimates, though revenue fell short. However, the food producer did leave its full year forecasts unchanged.

AIG (AIG) earned $1.06 per share for the second quarter, well above analyst estimates of $0.57. Revenues were also well above estimates, with the company attributing its performance to
improvements at its insurance operations.

CBS (CBS) reported a second quarter profit of $0.65 per share, six cents above estimates, with revenues essentially in line. CBS had strong results from its cable networks, and also
reported an increase in profit margins.

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) beat estimates by eight cents with its second quarter profit of $0.20 per share, and revenue also came in well above consensus. The videogame producer also raised
its 2012 outlook, helped by strong sales of its new “Diablo III” game.

LinkedIn (LNKD) earned $0.16 per share for the second quarter, matching estimates. Revenue beat consensus, and the business social networking site also raised its full year outlook on improved results from business and advertising services.

OpenTable (OPEN) earned $0.42 per share for the second quarter, five cents above estimates, with revenues also above consensus. The online reservations service also raised its full year outlook, on a surge in the number of diners using OpenTable to make reservations.

Skullcandy (SKUL) earned $0.24 per share for the second quarter, two cents above estimates. The maker of specialty headphones saw strong sales growth both in the U.S. and overseas.

Toyota ( TM) says it earned $3.7 billion dollars for the April through June quarter, after it barely made a profit during the year-ago quarter. The automaker is also raising its sales target for the year to 9.76 million vehicles, which would be a record for Toyota.

SAP (SAP) has agreed to pay Oracle (ORCL) $306 million in damages in a copyright infringement case, a move that avoids a new trial. Oracle will now ask an appeals court to restore a $1.3 billion jury award.