Stocks set to stumble
Investors express caution as corporate earnings come in mixed; worries about Apple, Amazon.com grow.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures fell early Thursday as investor caution held sway amid a mixed bag of corporate results.
Less than an hour before the market open, Nasdaq and S&P futures were lower and indicating a weak start for stocks.
Among the tech companies reporting, mobile phone maker Motorola (MOT, Fortune 500) beat earnings estimates by 2 cents but missed on revenues and lowered its guidance.
Elsewhere in tech, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) reported a jump in quarterly profit and sales late Wednesday, but the iPod maker's conservative outlook sent shares lower in after-hours trading.
And Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) also posted robust results, but shares of the company fell 5% in after-hours trading as investors expressed disappointment with the company's profit margins.
But the earnings news wasn't all bad.
Embattled automaker Ford (F, Fortune 500) surprised analysts early Thursday and swung to a profit, largely on strong sales overseas.
3M (MMM, Fortune 500) and Dow Chemical (DOW, Fortune 500) also beat estimates.
Overseas, Credit Suisse (CS), Switzerland's second largest, reported a $2.1 billion hit on losses related to the credit crisis.
Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) and American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) report after the market close.
A pair of economic reports also came in mixed.
Jobless claims for the latest week, at 342,000, were well below estimates and fell far more than expected.
Orders for durable goods, however, fell 0.3% in March. Analysts were expecting orders to be flat.
A report on new home sales come out at 10 a.m. ET.
In major corporate news, Wendy's (WEN) agreed to be bought by Nelson Peltz's Triarc Companies in an all-stock deal.
Oil prices retreated. A barrel of U.S. crude fell 89 cents to $117.41 a barrel in electronic trading.
In global trade, Asian markets ended mixed. Japan stocks slipped, but shares in Shanghai rallied 9% after the government lowered tax on stock transactions. Major markets in Europe fell in early trading. 
-
Minimum wage to $20 an hour. That's what Sally Delk hopes for with a job at the nuclear power plant. More -
Charlotte Street was the epicenter of urban blight. No longer. Now Bimmers and boats fill driveways. More -
Ex-convicts like Gregory Headley are 'at the back of the line' in the struggle to find work. More -
Steve Jobs revived Apple, defying the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. More -
Consumers looking to buy electronics for holiday gifts won't have to break the bank this season. More -
Search firm says it will pay the bill for wireless Internet during the holidays. More -
Twitter and LinkedIn hook up, signing agreement to let users share information across both platforms. More
