MW: E-Trade falls on surprise loss, but financials up
By Greg Morcroft
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- E-Trades shares ETFC -10.15% fell sharply in early Thursday trade a day after the firm posted a surprise loss and said it is still being pressured by loan-loss provisions to cover its wrong bets on the U.S. housing market. Also early Thursday, Goldman Sachs cut the shares to neutral from buy, citing the weak earnings, but it also said that ongoing low interest rates will pressure the firm's net interest margin. In the broader sector, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF [s; xlf], which tracks the financial stocks in the S&P 500 SPX +0.35% tracked the broader market higher, adding 0.6%. Among the Dow DJIA +0.47% financial stocks, Travelers Cos. Inc. TRV +0.39% slipped 0.3%, while Bank of America Corp. BAC +1.63% , J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM +0.90% and American Express Co. AXP +0.54% all rose.
