Bank of America, Danaher, Furniture Brands: U.S. Equity Preview

By Lynn Thomasson

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. trading tomorrow. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of 5:50 p.m. in New York, unless otherwise specified.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in March 2009 slid 1.1 percent to 865. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 119 points, or 1.4 percent, to 8,451. Nasdaq-100 Index futures dropped 1.8 percent to 1,168.25.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC US) added 6 cents to $14.97 in trading after the close of regular trading. The third-largest U.S. bank said it plans to cut 30,000 to 35,000 positions over the next three years because of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the weak economic environment.

Danaher Corp. (DHR US) slumped 4.4 percent to $47.51. The maker of Craftsman tools said next year may be “difficult” and predicted 2009 profit as low as $3.70 a share, compared with the average analyst estimate of $4.07 from a Bloomberg survey.

Equitable Resources Inc. (EQT US) gained 3.3 percent to $32.15. The producer of oil and natural gas was picked to replace Transocean Inc. in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, S&P said.

Transocean (RIG US) slid 3.3 percent to $56.17. The world’s offshore oil driller plans to switch its incorporation to Switzerland, making it ineligible for the S&P 500.

Esterline Technologies Corp. (ESL US) gained 5 percent to $33.60. The manufacturer of jet-engine parts reported fourth- quarter profit excluding some items of $1.38 a share, or 30 percent more than the average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Furniture Brands International Inc. (FBN US): The maker of Broyhill and Thomasville chairs and tables said it was cutting 1,400 jobs, or about 15 percent of its domestic workforce, because of “continuing soft retail-market conditions.” The stock dropped 7.6 percent to $3.06 in regular trading.

Legg Mason Inc. (LM US): The asset manager took a $517 million loss on the sale of debt issued by Axon Financial Funding Ltd., cutting its holdings in structured investment vehicles by more than 40 percent. Legg Mason shares fell 8.7 percent to $18.17 in regular trading.

Waters Corp. (WAT US) tumbled 13 percent to $36.59. The maker of scientific testing equipment said fourth-quarter profit could be as low as 94 cents a share, less than its previous prediction for earnings of at least $1.08.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lynn Thomasson in New York at lthomasson@bloomberg.net.