On the Watch: Black & Decker (AP)

Thursday July 24, 9:57 am ET Housing market expected to hamper second-quarter results at Black & Decker TOWSON, Md. (AP) -- Power tools maker Black & Decker Corp. will report its second-quarter earnings Friday and investors are waiting to see just how much the slowdown in the nation's housing industry has affected sales and profits. The maker of Black & Decker, Kwikset and Baldwin brands was already hammered during the first quarter, when profits fell more than 37 percent because of the slumping housing market and subprime mortgage crisis. The Towson-based company forecast second-quarter profit between $1.40 and $1.50 per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predict earnings of $1.42 per share on revenue of $1.6 billion. In April, the company announced it was cutting about 700 jobs, or about 3 percent of its work... [read full story]