The number of weekly jobless claims has taken an unexpected drop. The Labor Department says there were just 324,000 new claims last week. That's down from 339,000 last week and handily beats the consensus which was for 345,000. Tomorrow is the government's monthly jobs report. Tune in live at 8:30 Eastern for a special expanded show.
GM (GM) has blown-out estimates with earnings, which it released in just the past hour. The biggest of the American automakers posted 67-cents a share, well ahead of estimates for 54-cents. It also beat on revenues. Cigna (CI) also beat big-time this morning. The insurer says profit rose 39% in the quarter to $1.72 a share. Revenue also beat by more than $1/2 billion. Beazer Homes (BZH), on the other hand missed terribly. It lost 78-cents a share when estimates were for 70-cents. Revenue also missed.
Facebook (FB) shares have been moving about 1.5% higher in reaction to the company's earnings report which was released yesterday afternoon. Earnings missed
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