Summary: The futures markets are pointing to a lower open this morning. International markets are also in the red on concerns about fourth quarter GDP growth in the US. Ahead of the bell, we get earnings from Chevron, Eli Lilly and MasterCard today. After the closing bell Thursday, Google turned in fourth quarter results of $6.88 a share, missing analysts' estimate of $7.12 a share. Revenue rose to $18.1 billion, also disappointing. Online advertising continues to be a sore spot. While consumers are clicking on ads, advertisers are paying less per click. So while clicks per ad rose 14%, the amount advertisers paid per click fell 3 percent. Amazon earned 45 cents a share in the fourth quarter, blowing away estimates. But revenue was slightly below estimates. The currency issue has hurt several multinationals this week we learned, and amazon was no different. Looking ahead, amazon issued a disappointing outlook for the first quarter. It wasn't all bad news, it invested quite a bit in its prime service in the last year, and as a result paid membership jumped 53% worldwide. Finally, a popular fast food chain begins trade today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "SHAK." The IPO was priced at $21 a share, higher than the previous range of $17 to $19. Five million-shares are on offer, with a view to raise $105 million. Investor appetite has been strong for healthy casual dining chains such as shake shack. El Pollo Loco (LOCO) and Potbelly (PBPB) are just a few chains that have gone public in the past two years and have soared on their first day of trading.
