Stocks are lower after Goldman Sachs, Citigroup earnings disappoint

Investors turned cautious Thursday after earnings reports from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. stirred worries about the troubles banks still face.

Stocks fell moderately in early trading after rallying Wednesday. Investors drew some comfort from a government report that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment insurance fell last week. A report on manufacturing in the New York region also topped expectations.

The economic readings couldn’t make up for disappointing profit reports, however. Optimism had grown about bank earnings after JPMorgan Morgan Chase & Co. set a high bar Wednesday with a strong profit that helped propel the Dow Jones industrials past the 10,000 mark for the first time in a year.

Goldman Sachs said it earned $3.19 billion, or $5.25 per share, in the third quarter, easily beating expectations on a sharp rise in trading profits. Revenue from Goldman’s core investment banking operations fell sharply from the previous quarter, however reflecting slow activity in dealmaking. Goldman also said it set aside about $5.35 billion for compensation and bonuses, more than a year ago.

Citigroup reported a slightly smaller loss per share than expected but said its credit losses remain high.

Tech firms Google Inc., IBM Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices are scheduled to report earnings after the market closes.

The reports Thursday brought reminders that the recovery will take time.

In early trading, the Dow fell 19.35, or 0.2 percent, to 9,996.51. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 3.02, or 0.3 percent, to 1,089.00. The Nasdaq composite index fell 7.69, or 0.4 percent, to 2,164.64.

Yesterday’s Top Performing Small Cap Stock:

Viper Networks, Inc. (Pink Sheets: VPER) was a eXpressIR top performer yesterday closing up over 6% on trading volume of 253,318 shares.

Viper Networks, Inc. and Cirilium India Pvt. LTD announced today that they have recently begun deployment for a redundant telecommunications network between Australia and India, after previously concluding all contract agreements with Globalcom Information Services (a leading infocomm service provider in the Asia-Pacific region). The Company’s initial dedicated and protected circuits will be installed between Viper Networks’ equipment in Australia and India, to provide a full spectrum of national and international telecommunication services from Australia.

Viper Networks expects to complete the deployment of this redundant network for the continent of Australia by November 30, 2009.

Farid Shouekani, President of Viper Networks, Inc., commented, “As part of our Joint Venture with Cirilium and recently awarded India telecom license, this network deployment is an integral part of our significant revenue growth plans. The Australian network will allow us to maximize our potential in terms of cost, coverage, sales and enhanced services throughout this sizable market.”

Today’s eXpressIR Hot Stock to Watch:

Biomedical Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. (OTC BB: BMTL)

Biomedical Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. announced significant developments on the commercialization of its Demolizer Home unit, a safe and environmentally friendly biomedical waste disposal device designed to enable diabetics and others using syringes at home to safely destroy their sharps waste and dispose of it in the regular trash or send it to a BMTS’ recycling partner. Through treatment in the Demolizer Home unit, used syringes and lancets are sterilized and grossly melted so that they cannot be reused and no longer pose a risk of infection. BMTS’ engineers have neared conclusion of the design aspects of the device and have progressed it from conception to bench testing and are implementing the patent process.

In 2006, an estimated 8 million people in the U.S. administered 3 billion injections at home annually. Most of these contaminated syringes end up in the ordinary municipal waste stream posing a sizeable risk to public health and sanitation workers. With the changing demographics, the number of self-administered injections in the U.S. is expected to grow 165% over the next ten years. That translates to 21 million people administering 8 billion injections by 2016.