Earnings & Sales Reports, Good News | featured news

Bank of America reported a $6.2 billion profit for the third quarter as gains from assets sales and positive accounting changes outweighed weaker results in its trading business and continued losses in its huge mortgage portfolio.

Ford Motor Co. is on a roll. Its popular new cars and trucks are grabbing a bigger share of the U.S. market. It's about to erase a big portion of its health care debts. And Ford is adding a significant number of jobs for the first time in years.

U.S. stock futures rose as better-than-expected earnings reports from Research In Motion and Oracle late Thursday reinforced confidence in the ability of companies to increase profits next year.

Freddie Mac reported a surprising profit in the second quarter, but the profit turned to a loss for shareholders after the company paid the U.S. government a $1.1 billion dividend.

The company, reporting its first profit since 2007, said quarterly net income was $1.8 billion.

Stocks rallied Thursday to their highest levels in at least 8 months, as investors eyed the latest batch of better-than-expected profit reports or forecasts and a report that suggested the labor market is starting to stabilize.

JPMorgan Chase becomes the second major US bank to report a big rise in profits for the April to June period.

Goldman Sachs earned second-quarter profits of $3.44 billion, continuing a robust turnaround since it rode out the tumultuous final months of 2008 with the help of a federal rescue.

Home Depot's earnings jumped 44% on fewer charges as the home-improvement retailer posted results that beat analysts' views despite lower sales.

Weak consumer spending continued in April, but some retailers posted sales gains, or slighter declines than in the past.