Europe troubles don't faze us stocks

_Bob Pisani is off; this post was written by CNBC producer Robert Hum._ U.S. stock futures and European stock markets were fairly flat Tuesday morning, despite a number of concerns across

the Atlantic. a) S&P warned that Ireland’s debt could be cut once again, citing rising costs of recapitalizing Anglo Irish Bank – a task that could cost the government 35 billion Euros

(up from its prior estimate of 25 billion Euros). Other Irish banks (Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks) are also down 3 percent to 5 percent pre-open, amid fairly active trading. b)

Over in Spain, traders are expecting a forthcoming downgrade of the country’s debt by ratings agency Moody’s. But in a bit of a sigh of relief, the country’s auction of 3 month and 6 month

treasury bills went well. c) Meanwhile, in Portugal, fighting between the two political parties there on tax hikes is bringing uncertainty on how the government can lower the country’s

deficit. Elsewhere: 1) Walgreen jumps 8 percent after beating estimates ($0.49 vs. $0.44 consensus) as earnings were buoyed by stronger sales and improved margins. Same-store sales rose 1.5

percent in the quarter as prescription comps were up 1.2 percent. 2) Jabil Circuit falls 6 percent after guiding cautiously for the current quarter. Although the circuit board maker beat Q4

estimates ($0.52 vs. $0.48 consensus) and sees strong earnings in the current quarter ($0.53-$0.57 vs. $0.53 consensus), its sales outlook remains a bit light ($3.9 billion-$4.0 billion vs.

$4.07 billion consensus). Another potential headwind for the firm, inventories in the past quarter rose 58 percent from the prior year. 3) KB Home falls 2 percent following a downgrade to

“sell” by Goldman Sachs, which feels that “the company’s earnings trajectory is significantly lower than Street expectations.” 4) The International Air Transport Association warned that air

traffic last month slowed, rising 6.4 percent year-over-year in August – down from a 9.5 percent year over year increase in July. IATA CEO Giovanni Bisignani cautions, “we do not yet see the

strong consumer confidence needed to sustain the expansion with spending.'' Still, airlines continue to trade at new highs. The NYSE Arca Airline Index (.XAL) is at a 2.75 year

high. _____________________________ _BOOKMARK CNBC DATA PAGES:_ * The Dow 30 — in Real Time * Oil, Gold, Natural Gas Prices Now * US Dollar, Minute by Minute _____________________________

_____________________________ _Questions?  Comments?  [email protected]_