U.S. stocks' advance fades ahead of Fed decision

Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007

U.S. stocks' advance fades ahead of Fed decision

NEW YORK
Stocks headed lower Tuesday amid weakness in the financial sector ahead
of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision, with only the Nasdaq
clinging to slight gains on upbeat technology news, including Texas
Instruments Inc.'s outlook.

The Fed: Quarter-point cut and discount-rate move seen as likely

WASHINGTON
Wall Street economists firmly expect a rate cut of a quarter of one
percentage point and also engineer an even larger reduction in the
discount rate when the Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday to consider its
monetary policy.

WaMu shares slide as bank slashes 3,150 jobs

SAN FRANCISCO
Shares of Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. thrift, fell in early
trading Tuesday, a day after the bank said it's slashing 3,150 jobs and
cutting its dividend.

TI shares rise on improved outlook

SAN FRANCISCO
Texas Instruments Inc.'s stock rose 3% Tuesday morning after the
chipmaker raised the midpoint of its revenue and earnings forecast for
the fourth quarter.

The Ratings Game: Starbucks cut to neutral at Goldman with few catalysts
in sight

NEW YORK
Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kron cut his rating on Starbucks Corp. to
neutral from buy, as the analyst noted slower same-store sales,
declining new store productivity, margin erosion and concerns over
competition and saturation.