2:45 PM Embraer reports earnings of 37 cents, down from 55 a year ago.
Embraer (ERJ: chart), Brazilian manufacturer of commercial, business, and defense aircrafts reported Q1 earnings of 37 cents, down from 55 cents a year ago. The market had expected earnings of 55 cents. The company’s revenue rose 5.9%. Gross margin for the company came in at 28.7% down from 35.1% in the year-earlier period. Embraer delivered 27 aircrafts, 21 of which were commercial, in the first quarter.

Garmin (GRMN: chart), a manufacturer of navigational devices that utilize GPS technology has scheduled a meeting for shareholders on the 21st of next month at its Olathe headquarters to vote on the board recommendation for a two-for-one stock split. On May 3rd the company had announced the planned stock-split and post-split dividend of 50 cents a share. At that time it also reported an 85% increase in Q1 earnings and a 67% increase in quarterly revenue compared with the year-earlier period. The stock has risen from$43 to $94 in 1 year’s time.

Phelps Dodge (PD: chart), a miner of copper and producer of molybdenum-based chemicals saw its share drop of 6% in early afternoon trading as the broader commodities market declines. The company’s stock peaked last week at $99 and has since fallen to $88.05, down $7.30.

Bausch & Lomb (BOL: chart), a manufacturer of eye health products announced today that it is conducting a permanent world-wide recall of its contact lens solution; ReNu with MoistureLoc due to concerns that it may be triggering a rare type of eye infection. About 2.3 million of the more than 30 million Americans who wear contact lenses use the MoistureLoc formula. The product alone accounted for $100 million in global sales in 2005. The company’s shares rose 10.46% to $49.09 in early afternoon trading. Bausch & Lomb generates more than $2 billion in annual revenues. The company currently employs 12,400 people world-wide.


12:30PM European markets finished deeply in the red.
European markets closed deeply in the red, with a flat start on Wall Street pulling them off earlier lows. Markets were weak Monday largely due to continuous inflation concerns and weaker U.S. dollar which weighed on export-related issues like auto and luxury stocks. Metals companies were also under pressure with BHP and Anglo American down 5% each. Xstrata dropped 8.4% on mews that it might bid for Falconbridge. However, telecommunication stocks made a strong performance with Vodafone rising 1.2% on report that Verizon may buy a stake in the companies’ joint venture for $48 billion. The German DAX 30 lost 1%, the French CAC 40 dropped 1.7%, and London FTSE 100 falling 1.2%.

Oil dropped below $70 on weakening demand and rising inflation. Light crude fell $2.49 to $69.55 a barrel. Gasoline lost 9 cents to $2.08 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 15 cents to $6.13 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent crude shed $1.97 to $70.35. Precious metals also fell, with gold losing $21.80 to $692.50 an ounce. In Hong Kong gold slipped $27.20 to $695.90. In London silver fell to $13.40 from $14.50. The dollar traded mixed in European trading. The euro traded at $1.2842, down from $1.2914. The dollar bought 110.10, down yen from 110.31. The British pound stood at $$1.8842, down from $1.8932.


11:30AM Oil and gold stocks moved notably lower.
Stocks lost direction in morning trading, following a steep decline in oil and gold prices as well as a disappointing quarterly report from Target Corp. (TGT: chart). The gold sector turned in one of the market''s worst performances as the price of the precious metal moved sharply lower amid some strength in the value of the U.S. dollar. Gold for June delivery declined $17.80 to $694 an ounce, sending the Amex Gold Bugs Index down 4.8%. Other metal prices also came under pressure, contributing to weakness throughout the metal sector. Among metal stocks, Inco (N: chart) posted a notable loss after it raised its offer to acquire Falconbridge (FAL: chart). A sharp drop in the price of oil drove energy stocks notably lower. The oil service sector dropped 1.9%, while the oil and natural gas sectors both fell more than 1%. Crude for June delivery slipped $1.89 to $70.15 a barrel on news that the IEA cut its forecast for oil demand growth in 2006.

At the same time, airline stocks advanced, benefiting from the decrease by the price of oil, as reflected by the 1.5% gain shown by the Amex Airline Index. JetBlue (JBLU: chart) helped to lead the sector higher following a brokerage upgrade. Health care stocks posted strength, with some pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks posting notable gains. Some strength was also visible in the health insurance sector. Shares of Cambridge Antibody Technology (CATG: chart), bio-pharmaceutical company, surged 64.2% after the company agreed to be acquired by AstraZeneca (AZN: chart). In late morning trading, the Dow added 25.67, or 0.23%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 1.99, or 0.15%, and the Nasdaq lost 4.46, or 0.2%. Bonds rose on the weak manufacturing data, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipping to 5.17% from 5.2%.


10:30 AM Indian Sensex plunges 500 points on heavy selling.
The Sensex in India lost 462.91 points, or 3.77% to close at 11,822.20. The turnover on BSE was $0.7 billion or Rs 3,182 crores. The market breadth was weak, as 684 stocks rose and 1,899 declined. Stock exchange’s metal index fell close to 11%. In three trading session the market index Sensex has lost 6.2%. Recent victory of Socialist parties in the states of West Bengal and in Kerala, expected sharp decline in metals prices in Europe and rising petrol prices in local markets have kept investors on the edge. It was the fall in metals prices that led the sharp sell-off in the market today.

Metal stocks led the decliners with Hindalco the losing the most, down 13% to Rs 210.15. Sterlite Industries diving 15% to Rs 514, Hindustan Zinc down 12.71% to Rs 900 and Sesa Goa declining 12% to Rs 1,290. Tata Steel and Kalyani Steel came under pressure as well. Reliance Industries was the most-traded stock having more than Rs 385 crore changing hands, followed by Tata Steel, Rs 277 crore. Reliance Industries continued its downward trend, shedding 4.3% to Rs 1,021.25. ONGC declined 3.54% to Rs 1.3670.10. Reliance Petroleum dropped 5.7% to Rs. 79.15 and ITC fell 4.82% to Rs 191.40.

10:00AM Stocks opened in the negative on commodities and Target’s Q1 report.
At the start of Monday trading session, stock markets moved to the downside, reflecting heavy losses by commodity stocks which came under pressure due to a steep decline in commodity prices. Weaker-than-anticipated quarterly earnings from Target Corp. (TGT: chart) also helped stocks move lower. Target posted a 12% jump in Q1 profit, but the results came below estimates by a penny per share. Company''s shares lost 7%. Gold stocks moved sharply lower, as gold for June delivery slipped $23.80 to $688 an ounce. The Amex Gold Bugs Index dropped 5.8%. Energy stocks were also under pressure, as the price of oil extended the downward move, falling down $2.19 to $69.85 a barrel. At the same time, airline stocks moved notably higher, as the sharp drop by the price of oil offset concerns about higher fuel costs. The Amex Airline Index climbed 1.6%. Some semiconductor stocks also posted early strength. In the first hour of trading, the Dow added 5.60, or 0.05%. The Standard & Poor''''s 500 index was down 0.75, or 0.06%, and the Nasdaq lost 2.31, or 0.1%. Bonds recovered slightly from Friday''''s selloff, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipping to 5.19% from 5.2%.

In corporate news, AstraZeneca PLC agreed to acquire development partner Cambridge Antibody Technology Group PLC for $1.07 billion. The $25.02-per-share is a hefty 69% premium to Cambridge''s closing price Friday. Boeing Co. agreed to pay $615 million to end a three-year Justice Department probe into alleged defense contracting scandals.


9:00AM Stock futures were set to open lower on inflation worries
U.S. stock futures indicated a weak opening with continued interest rate concerns and inflation worries weighing on pre-market sentiment ahead of government report on producer prices due out on Tuesday. The report is expected to give an indication of the pace of inflation in the domestic economy. Energy and mining stocks also contributed to the downward move, pressured by sharp declines in commodities markets. On Monday gold fell sharply, following a 26-year high last week. Gold producer Newmont Mining Corp. fell almost 1% to $55.80 on the Inet electronic brokerage system. Oil prices also dropped steeply, sending shares of oil firm ConocoPhillips down 0.8% to $64.68. S&P 500 futures were down 3.1 points, below fair value. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 20 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 9.5 points.

In corporate news, discount retail chain Target Corp. (TGT: chart) is expectedt to report earnings before the opening bell. New York City-based Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ: chart) is reportedly close to a merger deal with the UK''''s largest mobile operator Vodafone Group PLC''''s (VOD: chart) 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for about $48 billion. The total deal value will be $56 billion, including $8 billion debt.

Target Corp, (TGT: chart), merchandise discount stores operators, reported its Q1 profit advanced to 63 cents a share, from 55 cents a share on 12.1% revenue growth and same-store sales advancing 5.1%. The company missed analysts’ expectations by a penny

HealthSouth Corp, (HLSH: chart), health-care-services provider, reported Q1 net loss broadened to $1.09 a share, against 65 cents a share in the year-ago period on 6.7% lower revenue. The net loss broadened to $435.1 million from $258.2 million. The loss from continuing operations came to $1.06 against 61 cents. Revenue dropped to $792 million from $848.6 million.