Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil fell $2.39 to close at $86.82 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 6 cents to $7.61 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 3.80 cents to close at 224.26 cents per gallon.

Gold decreased $4.30 in New York trading to close at $886.80 per ounce, silver closed down 9 cents to $16.02 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery decreased 10.20 cents to 309.45 per pound and in London copper futures increased $159.00 to $7,048.00.

Dollar edged higher against euro to $1.4586 and nearly unchanged against yen at 105.7001.


3:00PM New York - Apple Inc first quarter profit rise 57%; company slashes earnings guidance.

Revenue Review

Apple Inc reported on Tuesday first quarter revenue climbed 35% to $9.6 billion compared to $7.1 billion posted in the year ago quarter, helped by the stronger demand for its Macintosh computers, iPod listening devices, and iPhones.

International sales contributed 45% in the quarter''s revenue. iPhone sales released in June 2007 reached 2.3 million in the quarter.

Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macintosh computers, representing 44% unit growth and 47% revenue growth over the year-ago quarter.

At least 22.1 million iPods were sold in the quarter, which was 5% higher on prior year and 17% up in revenue terms over comparative quarter in 2006.

Earnings Review

For the quarter, Apple reported net profit jumped 58% to $1.58 billion from $1 billion a year earlier.

Earnings rose 54.4% to $1.76 per share compared with $1.14 per share posted same period in 2006.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had estimated first quarter earnings of $1.62 per share on revenues of $9.46 billion.

In the quarter, Apple said gross margin rose to 34.7% from 31.2% in the year ago quarter.

The company completed the quarter with a net cash balance of $18.4 billion, having generated $2.7 billion cash from operations.

Earnings Guidance

Apple issued a guidance that disappointed investors. For the last six quarters in a row, Apple has beaten its conservative outlook. Investors took Apple’s conservatism on the outlook with a negative view on the economy.

The computer and electronics giant said it expects second earnings of 94 cents per share on revenues of $6.8 billion.