Wall Street Addict

Stock futures lifted in wobbly trading Monday, as Wall Street remained jittery about a possible credit crunch putting a crimp on U.S. growth.
Last week was the worst in five years for the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index. On Thursday and Friday, the Dow fell a total of 585 points, caving under growing worries about a shakier lending climate.
Some of Monday's major earnings reports brought good news. Health benefits provider Humana Inc. said its second-quarter profit more than doubled year-over-year, and HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe's largest bank by market value, said that while lending risks remain, its first-half earnings rose by 25 percent.
But market volatility is high and credit concerns are running deep, so it's unclear if any of the day's news will allay investors' fears of a major correction. Stock futures -- bets on how the stock market will perform during the normal trading session -- bobbed higher and lower ahead of the opening bell.
Investors were also disappointed to hear that China tightened its credit again to rein in the country's excess cash, by ordering banks to hike their reserves.
Dow futures expiring in September rose 17, or 0.13 percent, to 13,301. The Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 0.70, or 0.05 percent, at 1,458.70, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.00, or 0.05 percent, to 1,964.50.

Labels: HBC, HUM, RSH, Stock Futures, VZ