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I was actually in Detroit on Monday. I'm not going to write about the urban decay and the deterioration of the city. Many have researched and documented this far better than I ever could. But even in my short three-hour visit, the evidence was all too clear. Personally, I think Detroit has more character than many other richer and far more maintained and manicured cities. Even abandoned and in shambles, many of the buildings are architectural gems. Perhaps because one can still see the glorious past through the ruins, that it is so affecting. Or, as the website names them, they are The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit.

It is for this reason that the recent talk of bankruptcy for one of the Big Three has been so disturbing.

This week has been very busy for automakers, starting with June car and truck sales reported on Tuesday. General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) reported an 18.2% drop in sales, which was actually better than expected, and Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) a drop of 27.9%. Meanwhile, Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) posted a 21.4% sales decline. GM shares actually got a boost from the sales figures, but that didn't last long.

Stock futures were mixed early Thursday morning, the last and shortened day of trading this week -- markets will close at 1 p.m. EDT. Oil, again, has reached new highs as investors awaited the ECB decision on interest rate. Wall Street is also anxious about the upcoming jobs report, especially after Wednesday the ADP employment figures were worse than expected. Today's session will likely be choppy.

Despite starting the day on a positive note Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended sharply lower after the ADP employment figures damped mood on the Street. Also, crude oil prices rose sharply and an analyst warned that General Motors (NYSE: GM) may have to consider bankruptcy at some point; GM stock closed below $10 a share. The Dow industrials tumbled 166 points, or 1.46%, entering bear territory -- down over 20%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 53 points, or 2.32%, and the S&P 500, fell 23 points, or 1.82% - the only major index still not in bear territory.

Soon, at 7:45 a.m. EDT, the European Central Bank will announce its decision on interest rates. The ECB is widely expected to increase rates, which in turn could further weaken the dollar, driving oil prices higher.

Then, at 8:30 a.m., the Labor Department will release the June payroll figures. Economists expect the unemployment rate to fall to 5.4% from 5.5% last month, but job losses are expected to rise to 60,000 positions, up from 49,000 in May, according to Briefing.com.

At 10:00 a.m., the June ISM services index will be released, and another decline is expected.

Before the bell: Futures higher on SBUX, YHOO, ahead of inventory report

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) shares are trading 4.2% higher in premarket action after the bank, seeking to calm investors, said it expects a profit in its second quarter.

While AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) unveiled its pricing strategy for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s 3G iPhone to go on sale July 11 with a $199 and $299 (with contract) price points as expected, Canadians are outraged over Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE: RCI)'s 3G iPhone rates and have created an online petition that collected over 19,000 signatures already.

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) rose in Europe and is rising over 2.7% in premarket trading after winning a court case against Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) and the Sandoz unit of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) over patents on its Seroquel schizophrenia drug.

A day after car sales were seen as "not as bad as expected," comes Merrill Lynch and downgrades General Motors (NYSE: GM). Shares are down over 3% in premarket trading.

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, as Wall Street could try to having yet another positive session. While Starbucks news of store closing and reports Microsoft may still be interested in Yahoo helped lift sentiment, UnitedHealth already issued a warning this morning. Employment data is also on tap before the market opens.

U.S. stocks finally ended higher on Tuesday. Surprisingly, it was car sales that helped the mood on the Street as as June sales came in not as bad as expected. The Dow industrials ended 32 points higher, or 0.28%, the S&P 500 added 4 points, or 0.38%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 11 points, or 0.52%.

Today, investors will have the ADP June private sector employment figures to chew on ahead of the government's report tomorrow. The employment report is expected to be released at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Then, at 10 a.m., May factory orders are due out.

Also on the docket today is weekly crude inventories, usually released at 10:30 a.m. EDT. While oil came off highs Tuesday due to a slightly stronger dollar, it again rose above $141 a barrel Wednesday, due to persistent supply concerns that has analysts warning of higher prices yet. An IEA report saying supplies will remain tight and demand will likely grow despite higher prices helped push prices higher.

Before the bell: Futures drift lower as oil sets another record high

Since Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is no longer insisting on revenue sharing from mobile operators selling its iPhone, China Mobile Ltd (NYSE: CHL) said this cleared the biggest hurdle in bringing the iPhone to mainland China. They just have to resolve some practical issues now.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) shares climbed over 5.8% in after-hours trading Thursday. The builder is to report results this morning, a quarterly loss is expected.

Sony Ericsson, the joint venture between Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) warned Friday it might not see any profit growth in the second quarter, due to slowing demand for some of its higher-priced phones and a delay in shipping new models to the market and will also experience a gross margin squeeze. ERIC shares are down about 6% in premarket trading.

U.S. futures were mixed to lower early Friday morning, a day after stock markets sold off, ending at their lowest level in nearly two years. Still, with oil prices reaching another record in Asia, it's questionable whether stocks could indeed stage a recovery.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks sank to lows not seen in nearly two years after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) downgraded investment banks including Citigroup (NYSE: C) and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) to Sell and as Wall Street was also worried about the outlook for tech stocks as both RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported quarterly results Wednesday, giving a tepid outlook. Topping it all were oil prices reaching $140 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 358 points, or 3.03%, the S&P 500 lost 38 points, or 2.94%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 79 points, or 3.33%.

Usually, a day after such a selloff, buyers tend to come in, this morning we also woke up to news that oil prices climbed to a record above $141 a barrel in Asian trading, which may dampen the mood on Wall Street again. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose as high as $141.71 a barrel before pulling back to $141.10. The previous trading record for a front-month contract was $139.89, set on June 16.

The board of Anheuser-Busch Cos. (NYSE: BUD) has unanimously rejected InBev NV's $46.35 billion takeover bid, calling it "financially inadequate." So now, will we have a hostile takeover fight?

So far, we had InBev putting in the offer and Anheuser-Busch taking its sweet time to reply while trying to thwart the offer by talking to Groupo Modelo. If Anheuser can manage to buy the remaining 50% of Modelo, it would be too big for InBev to swallow. Thursday, though, Anheuser finally replied. Unanimously, no less. I wonder if somewhere around that boardroom full of directors, one at least represented the interests of BUD's second largest shareholder, Warren Buffett's Berkwhire Hathway (NYSE: BRK.A).

In response, InBev said it might ask Anheuser shareholders to unseat the whole board. InBev filed suit "seeking a judgment to confirm that shareholders acting by written consent could remove all of Anheuser's directors without cause." I'd say they might even have cause. The $65 per share offer represented a 35% premium at the time. What's so "financially inadequate" about that?

Well, as Anheuser Chairman Patrick Stokes said, the offer undervalues the Bud Light and Budweiser brands, which he calls iconic. Whatever he calls them, they are the top two selling beer brands in the world. He also said InBev undervalues BUD's growth prospects. Well, if Anheuser could restructure on its own, it should have done so by now and not wait until it was up against the wall with its shareholders. The plans it has and wants to put in place will take a while to bear fruits no doubt.

As InBev has stated, it'd rather take over BUD under friendly terms (a bit of an oxymoron there, but that's the business world). Otherwise, it could either take the tender offer directly to shareholders or get into a fight similar to that Icahn has on his hands with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO)'s board, which may not be pretty. Replacing a whole board for a new slate can, and will, get ugly. Or it can do both.

If InBev decides to play nice after all, it may have to raise its bid. Maybe they should all chill and drink a Molson (NYSE: TAP). Things will look better after a few...

It's heartbreaking to hear about the increasing numbers of homeless people as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis and the ensuing foreclosures. It's even more distressing to read that 2 million children will be affected as a result.

Many who join the ranks of the homeless are actually middle-class families. Many are renters of homes that were foreclosed. Practically all of them never expected to be in this situation. According to a study released in April by the National Coalition for the Homeless, "76% of displaced homeowners and renters are moving in with relatives and friends. About 54% are moving to emergency shelters. About 40% are already on the streets."

Well, I find this whole situation infuriating for several reasons. One is personal responsibility. I can't help but wonder how a middle-class family with two earners does not save enough for a rainy day. And if you can't manage that, what were you doing buying a 3,000-square foot house in the first place?

Another reason this is all so infuriating is lack of proper laws to protect tenants of foreclosed homes. What are renters to do if they're not even notified in time to arrange their affairs? What are they to do if they lose their deposits? What are they to do if the new owner doesn't assume the rental responsibilities? More protection is required in such situations.

Then there is good old plain greed and callousness. Somehow, they always seem to go hand in hand. The housing market is oversupplied, we hear. There is a great deal of inventory standing empty. Many foreclosed homes stand empty. So it wasn't enough that lenders, with their greed, brought the country to this mess, now they can't even see a way to redeem themselves. It's true, they're not in the business of renting homes out, but if there are empty homes, and there are homeless people, then perhaps they should. Or at least find a way to get those empty homes filled out.

Knowing them, they'll likely to still manage exploit the public even in this while making a buck or two for themselves, then why not do something good for a change?

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) decided to it needs to correct the market a little more and issued a slew of downgrades.

Already yesterday it downgraded aerospace stocks, and today it went after financials and autos.

No sooner than we got used to the huge writeoffs and thought most of the fallout is behind us, that Goldman came today and whacked us on the head. "Over?" it laughed, "you wish!" It then proceeded to downgrade investment banks from Attractive to Neutral. Specifically, it downgraded Citigroup (NYSE: C) to Sell, urging investors to short sell it!

Citigroup will have another $8.9 billion in writedowns, William Tanona, the Goldman analyst said, and added Citigroup to Goldman's "Americas conviction sell" list, cutting his price target on the stock to $16 from $20. Citi shares are down 5.5%.

Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) has already been subject to rumors last week it would have to write down more assets. Today, the same Goldman analyst said it will likely incur $4.2 billion of write-downs in the second quarter. MER stock is down 4.5%.

At least Goldman shares have not been immune and are declining nearly 2.7% along with the rest of the investment banks and the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 150 points (at 10:15 a.m.). I guess that it was to be expected as we woke up to news that Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) downgraded investment banks. Wall Street is also worried about the outlook for tech stocks after both RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported quarterly results Wednesday, giving a tepid outlook.

Then, final revision of first quarter GDP were released an hour before the open, and while growth was revised upward to 1% from an anemic 0.6% original estimate, the components weren't very encouraging. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of GDP, grew by 1.1%, the smallest gain since the second quarter of 2001, which was during the last recession. Also, corporate profits after taxes fell 7.8%, a higher decline than previously estimated. Housing, as measured by residential fixed investment plunged by 24.6%.

Also, looking at inflation, the price index for gross domestic purchases, a closely watched measure of inflation, rose at a 3.6% rate, up 0.1 percentage point from the preliminary estimate. Excluding food and energy, the price index was up 2.3%, which is above the Fed's preferred range of around 1.5% to 2% for that index.

One bright spot, as it has been awhile now, is that exports rose 5.4%, which was much better than the estimate of 2.8 percent in May.

Moving to the labor markets, weekly initial claims, which were also reported at the same time, were unchanged. But -- and a big But it is -- the better indicator, four-week average of new jobless claims, was at the highest level since October 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Before the bell: Futures lower on financials, tech concerns

Reporting today:
Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) is expected to post a loss of 22 cents a share in the fourth quarter.
ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG) is expected to post earnings of 34 cents a share in the fourth-quarter .

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) reported late Wednesday a rise in quarterly profit of 12% to $437.9 million, or 86 cents a share, helped by gains in Europe and Asia. Sales jumped 16% to $5.1 billion. The earnings beat Wall Street's forecast. Shares are down 4.8% in premarket trading.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. (NYSE: BUD) will likely officially reject InBev NV's $46.3 billion takeover bid this week and announce plans to lower $1 billion in costs, pay a special dividend and sell off divisions like its theme-park unit to increase its stock price. InBev may then raise its offer.

U.S. stock futures were lower early Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve announced rates will be kept steady. Investors this morning are mostly concerned about financials following Goldman Sachs downgrades of several banks. Wall Street is also worried about the outlook for tech stocks after both RIM and Oracle reported quarterly results Wednesday and gave a tepid outlook.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks managed to end the session with moderate gains as oil prices declined. The Federal Reserve held interest rates at 2%, saying inflation has become a higher risk to U.S. economy. The Dow industrials rose 4 points, or 0.04%, the S&P 500 added 7 points, or 0.58%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose nearly 33 points, or 1.39%.

In economic news, final first quarter GDP will be reported at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with economists expecting a slight revision upward. At the same time, weekly jobless claims is due out. Finally, at 10:00 a.m., May existing home sales figures will be released, and economists expect a small growth in sales.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose Thursday after a steep decline Wednesday following a report showing increase in U.S. inventories. Crude is back above $135 a barrel this morning as buyers came back to the market.

Yup, that pretty much sums up Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL)'s recently delivered quarterly results. Strong. So strong, one could forget there is a slowdown in economic activity. So strong, no one remembers now Oracle's previous quarter scare (that the weak economy indeed would affect it and tech stocks). So strong, it has surpassed International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) to become the second-largest software company in sales. It is no wonder then that the stock climbed 1.86% in after-hours trading to $22.97. It closed at $22.55.

By the numbers, Oracle's profit jumped 27% to $2.04 billion, or 39 cents a share, but excluding acquisition costs and some other expenses, profit rose to 47 cents a share. Revenue rose 24% to $7.28 billion. Oracle beat analysts' estimates on both counts. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; the results showed strength and improvement in many areas:

• New software sales in the U.S. grew 22% and overall sales in the Americas, where the U.S. dominates, grew 18% after declining last quarter. Doesn't look like companies are cutting too much spending on software, does it? Keep in mind, growth in the region was indeed slower.
  
• The segment that competes with SAP jumped 36% - a good example of Oracle's ability to bounce back.
• Sales of new software licenses climbed 27% - it's amazing how Oracle managed to turn the trend on this number that concerned investors so much in the previous quarter. If that's not a good sign for future sales, what is? And if that doesn't give confidence in management and strategy, what does?
• Operating margin for the quarter was 48% - better than Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s, and that says it all.
  

The company, known for its acquisition strategy, closed its $8.5 billion purchase of BEA Systems Inc. in April. The acquisitions didn't just allow Oracle to grow to its second place, but gave it a diversity of products that helps it with sales and crossover sales.

One caveat: This quarter has always been known to be Oracle's best one. Still, the numbers don't lie, and this is one company that has been more than consistent.

Here is the Oracle's Earnings Transcript.

Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of data, Fed

Reporting today are the agrichemicals firm Monsanto (NYSE: MON) -- AP Preview, and after the close, software giant Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Nike (NYSE: NKE).

Reported Tuesday:

• Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) shares are up nearly 11% in premarket trading after the company reported its profit soared as revenue grew and costs declined, topping third-quarter earnings estimates. Merrill Lynch upgraded Jabil from Neutral to Buy.
  
• Red Lobster operator Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) shares are up 1.9% in premarket trading after it also topped quarterly earnings estimates, postinga higher quarterly profit, boosted by the Olive Garden chain, and lower costs that helped raise operating profit at its Red Lobster chain.
• 3COM (NASDAQ: COMS) shares also rose over 6% in after-hours trading after it posted higher than expected revenue.

Meanwhile Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) shares were also nearly 5% higher in after-hours trading Tuesday after the retailer said it abandoned plans to take over rival home furnishings retailer Cost Plus (NASDAQ: CPWM) for $88 million.