Last week's first-quarter report at AMR showed a net loss of $22 million, which some analysts said was less than expected.

But the revenue reported in that filing differed from a separate first-quarter report that Neoforma issued independently two weeks earlier.

In its first-quarter report, filed last week, HealthSouth fell short of analysts' expectations, and the company's net loss widened to $435.1 million.

But after the first-quarter economic report came out, traders scrambled to buy yen on the assumption that rates would soon rise.

But he added that it stood by the projected $500 million in 1990 capital spending it disclosed publicly in its first-quarter report.

After an initial good performance, the shares started to fall after this year's first-quarter report showed lower gold production and falling ore grades.

The first-quarter reports are the first look at the scramble for money behind the 2008 presidential race.

But the effect of the market drop will not be seen until these companies release their first-quarter reports in April.

Just how crucial was underscored by I.B.M.'s first-quarter financial report on April 17.

The first-quarter report said the Mercedes-Benz automotive and commercial vehicles division accounted for 72 percent of the group's sales in the first quarter.