As fourth quarter results are being reported, we see a mixed bag of earnings coming out of the U.S. market. By 11:48am ET the S&P 500 had already slid 0.4%, snapping its three-day advance after Google Inc., American Express Co., and General Electric Co. all missed expected forecasts. Google fell 8%, over $52.00, and by 1pm ET the company was trading under $588.00. The drop is said to be attributable to the company’s focus of moving into new markets in order to ignite growth outside the search engine’s traditional business market. American Express and GE both fell more than 1.2% after missing analyst projections. On the flip side, IBM beat fourth quarter estimates as profits rose 4.4%, causing a 4.3% gain in the stock price by mid-day. Not to be outdone, Microsoft (700 shares of which are owned by FIU’s Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF)) added 4.8% as the company’s Xbox business was benefited by Christmas holiday shopping. Intel rose 1.9% and Schlumberger (another SMIF holding of 100 shares) rose 7% as the world’s largest oilfield-services provider reported a 36% gain in fourth quarter profits.

 – Charles Stack