Weekly Roundup: Top 10: Mixed messages from corporate America

	Weekly Roundup JULY 19, 2013 Top 10: Mixed messages from corporate America MarketWatch's top 10 stories for week of July 14-19 What a terrific start to earnings season. What a lousy start to earnings season. Bloomberg Boom times in the financial sector. Less so in tech.The first sentence applies if you're talking about the financial sector, after Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) each reported strong second-quarter earnings growth. By contrast, fireworks were not unleashed in the tech sector after results from Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT), with Mr. Softie's results sending the stock to its worst one-day performance in more than four years. Even the one tech company that raised guidance, International Business Machines (IBM), did so in large part because its tax lawyers performed better than the company had expected. Yea, America. Speaking of America, Moody's decided that the country's Triple-A rating is on stable ground, not a step away from a downgrade, as the rating agency previously ruled. This in the week that Detroit filed for bankruptcy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 0.5%, and the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 0.7% to close the week at a record high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP) fell 0.4% on the week. Mixed messages all around. Stay tuned to MarketWatch over the weekend for all the news and analysis you need to organize your finances and retirement. — Steve Goldstein Wall Street boom times Goldman Sachs doubled its profit. Morgan Stanley's bottom line swelled by 66%. Bank of America reported a 63% profit rise. Citigroup, a mere 42%. David Weidner says Morgan Stanley found its inner broker , while Goldman's results somehow felt disappointing . Disappointments from the tech sector Is the party over for tech stocks? That's what Therese Poletti argued as Microsoft reported poor sales of its Windows 8 software and Surface tablet, Google saw its cost-per-click metric decline, and eBay (EBAY) offered a disappointing outlook. Maybe out-of-favor Apple (AAPL) will say something positive next week. Bernanke says tapering is not set in stone In two days of testimony before Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke drove home a message that the central bank plans this year to slow the pace of its monthly bond purchases , though nothing is set in stone. Bernanke also explained that he doesn't understand why gold prices move — and that you don't, either. Myra Saefong's response: Not so fast , Ben. Detroit files for bankruptcy Detroit became the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy protection. That's pushing up borrowing costs for municipalities across the country in its wake. But here are five reasons not to give up on Motown. (Matt Millen did not make the list.) Hedge fund stars meet Hedge-fund managers were in New York last week at the annual Delivering Alpha conference, pronouncing their ideas to the free world. MarketWatch covered the event in real time , with highlights including Nelson Peltz's idea that PepsiCo (PEP) should buy Mondelez International (MDLZ). It would only cost Pepsi about $68 billion. Peltz is hardly an uninterested observer, with over $1 billion invested in Mondelez and nearly as much in Pepsi. Housing starts lowest in a year Bad news in housing? Well, a bit — in June, housing starts plunged about 10% . With rising interest rates, that inevitably leads to speculation about plateauing demand. But economists didn't sound worried. A little tease: MarketWatch has an in-depth look at house prices in the works for Monday. Elon Musk's wild idea The Tesla co-founder has an interesting idea — a hyperloop train between Los Angeles and San Francisco. That way you can shop in Beverly Hills and Haight-Ashbury in the same afternoon. Awesome. 10 things baby boomers won't tell you Children of boomer parents shouldn't expect a big inheritance, even if their parents are rich — that's part of the latest installment in MarketWatch's '10 things' series . How to save at Disney theme parks Taking Junior to see Mickey and friends? Here's advice on how to save without sending all your hard-earned cash to the Mouse Corp. Why you'll have six cable bills Great, cut the cord and you'll have bills galore. Read why . Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: kumaresan.selva.blogger@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Subscribe Copyright 2013 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (updated 6/26/07). MarketWatch - Attn: Customer Service, 201 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111