U.S. Stocks Retreat After Google Earnings Miss Estimates; Microsoft Drops

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks retreated after Google
Inc. posted profit below analysts' estimates and Microsoft
Corp. said Xbox sales fell short of its own forecast.

Google, the most-popular Internet search engine, and
Microsoft, the biggest software maker, led the Standard &
Poor's 500 Index down from a record. Caterpillar Inc. declined
after the largest maker of earthmoving machines said profit
dropped due to the housing slump. Its shares pushed the Dow
Jones Industrial Average lower a day after it closed above
14,000 for the first time.


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Stocks set to slip after Google, Microsoft

(Reuters) - Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, posted higher earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, but personal computer sales did not pay off as much as some analysts had hoped, sending shares down 2 percent in extended-hours trading.




Google reported earnings that missed expectations due to increased hiring and a jump in operating expenses, sending its stock down 7 percent after the bell.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

U.S. stocks seen up, earnings flood awaited

(Reuters) - "The second quarter results are coming more and more into
focus and will give the trading impulses in following days,"
said Giuseppe-Guido Amato, equity strategist at German brokerage
Lang & Schwarz.




Technology stocks will be in the spotlight again, with
earnings due from Microsoft Corp. , the world's biggest
software company, Motorola Inc and Google Inc .


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Bill Gates fund reports 12.8 pct PlanetOut stake

(Reuters) - The Microsoft Corp. chairman's fund did not reveal
when it bought the shares or their price in the "passive"
filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cascade also did not reveal the purposes behind the
transactions.




San Francisco, California-based PlanetOut, which went
public in 2004, maintains a number of Web sites serving the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The sites
include Gay.com, PlanetOut.com, OUT&ABOUT Travel, Advocate.com,
Out.com, OutTraveler.com and HIVPlusMag.com


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

ING's Garcia Seeks `Unpopular' Stocks for Biggest Philippine Equity Fund

(Bloomberg) -- Paul Joseph Garcia runs the largest
equity fund in the Philippines, where the market is so small that
the value of stocks bought and sold in a day, $83 million, is
only 5 percent that of Microsoft Corp.'s turnover.

He has to be careful his trades don't influence share
prices, since big orders have a disproportionate effect in a
thinly traded market, Garcia said. His 6.7 billion-peso ($146
million) Philippine Equity Fund is twice as large as the
country's No. 2 fund. It also can be hard to find buyers or
sellers for large purchases.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sony cuts price on PlayStation 3 by $100

(Reuters) - The PlayStation 3, which includes a 60-gigabyte hard drive and a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player, will now cost $500, or $20 more than the most expensive version of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360.




The PS3 still costs twice that of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii console, whose $250 price and motion-sensing controller have made it a best-seller despite its lack of cutting-edge graphics and hard disk.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Goldman Sachs Meets Match in Googleplex When Recruiting College Graduates

(Bloomberg) -- Everyone wanted to hire Qiushuang
Zhang.

Before earning her master's degree in computer science at
Georgia Institute of Technology in May, Zhang had two job offers
from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., two from Microsoft Corp. and one
from Google Inc. Then a headhunter phoned to pitch a job at
Renaissance Technologies Corp., the $20 billion hedge fund firm
led by math guru James Simons.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

UPDATE 1-Dassault Systemes launches 3D Internet software

(Reuters) - Dassault, whose clients include blue-chip companies such as
U.S. planemaker Boeing and Japanese carmaker Toyota
, also said it was extending a partnership with
Microsoft .




"3D must be used by all and for all," Chairman and Chief
Executive Bernard Charles told Reuters on the sidelines of a
technology conference the company is holding.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Yahoo in search deal with Asian mobile operators

(Reuters) - Yahoo's oneSearch service lets users download e-mails, search the Internet, view Web pictures and check weather conditions.




Internet companies Yahoo, Google and Microsoft see offering its products on cell phones as one of the most important sources of future growth as subscribers climb globally.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise; Home Depot, Google, Yahoo Gain in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures advanced as
Treasury yields declined for a fourth day.

Home Depot Inc. rose after the world's largest home-
improvement retailer agreed to sell a unit and announced a share
buyback. Google Inc., owner of the world's most-used Internet
search engine, gained after Microsoft Corp. agreed to modify its
Vista operating system to address Google's complaints.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News