Wide Losses, Job Cuts, and GDP Edges Up: Morning Buzzers

Stock futures wobbled into mixed territory on Thursday morning. Fourth-quarter GDP growth was upwardly revised from -0.1 percent to +0.1 percent, below consensus expectations for a revision to +0.5 percent growth. Weekly unemployment insurance claims fell 6 percent to 344,000.

Futures at 9:00 a.m.: DJIA: -0.01%, S&P 500: +0.06%, NASDAQ: +0.18%.

Here’s what’s buzzing on Thursday Morning:

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (NYSE:RBS) was off as much as 4.7 percent in Thursday’s pre-market after reporting annual 2012 results. Investors are reacting negatively to a net loss of 4.97 billion pounds ($7.55 million), up from 2 billion pounds in 2011. Most of this loss can be attributed t0 a 4.6-billion charge related to a change in the value of the bank’s own credit and charges and fines related to various instances of misconduct, some related to the Libor scandal.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) spent all of Wednesday posting gains on the stock chart, only to trip over its fourth-quarter and fiscal full-year 2012 results, and crash 28 percent in after-market trading. This morning’s theme seems to be wider-than-expected losses, with Groupon reporting a fourth-quarter GAAP loss of $0.12 per share. The company also reported that it was forced to sacrifice revenue over the holidays in order to retain merchants, an all-around negative sign for the business.