THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm David Haffenreffer at the CNN Financial News desk in New York with this business update. Wall Street appears poised for a positive open when trading kicks off a little bit later on this morning. Stock index futures are sharply higher but that all could change in just a few hours time. The defense sector today is one to watch. In a surprise move, the U.S. government is blocking General Dynamics' proposed takeover of Newport News Shipbuilding. In its lawsuit, the Justice Department says the merger would result in only one company making nuclear submarines. The Pentagon says it will back a rival bid by Northrop Grumman to acquire Newport News. On the earnings front, Amazon.com, AT&T; and Compaq Computer all released financial results which met expectations, but as usual, the news was mixed. Amazon warned fourth quarter sales would fall below expectations, but it did stick to its promise to deliver a profit. AT&T; also met the Street's forecasts but profits plunged from a year ago. And Compaq Computer also expects weak sales and a loss for the current period. We'll get investor reaction to all these reports when trading begins. As for yesterday's market action, stocks pulled back from some early gains but the losses were modest for the Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P; 500. That is the latest financial news. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Government Blocks General Dynamics' Takeover of Newport News Shipbuilding