Dear Sobat, ntar malam kita rame2 nonton DOW & bola yuk... Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:27am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street analysts turned increasingly gloomy over U.S. financial results for the first two quarters of 2008 as well as the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a weekly survey by Reuters Estimates. The survey showed analysts expected S&P 500 companies' first-quarter earnings to grow just 4.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, and 4.2 percent in the second quarter. That compares with a growth outlook of 4.5 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, in last week's survey, and is down from October 1 expectations of 11.4 percent and 9.4 percent growth. Analysts forecast fourth-quarter earnings to fall 10.9 percent from a year earlier. That was worse than the 9.1 percent fall forecast last week, and a stark contrast to the 11.5 percent growth forecast in the October 1 survey. The financial sector was expected to show the weakest performance in the fourth quarter, amid reports of big write-downs and exposure to capital-strapped bond insurers. The sector's earnings were expected to fall 69 percent year-on-year. Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said last week that its fourth-quarter loss was a record $9.83 billion. The company also announced plans to raise $14.5 billion, slash its dividend and cut 4,200 jobs to shore up its balance sheet. Merrill Lynch & Co Inc's (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research) quarterly results, also announced last week, showed a net loss of $9.8 billion. It also unveiled about $16 billion in mortgage-related write-downs and adjustments.
