Bucking automotive trends, Ford Motor flew past Wall Street's expectations by announcing its first profitable quarter in nearly a year on Thursday, giving investors nascent hope that the carmaker's turnaround may come to fruition.
The news comes as brokerage firms post mixed results, with Bear Stearns announcing Thursday that it came short Wall Street's expectations (See "Fixed Income Bowls Over Bear"), as did Morgan Stanley on Wednesday (See "Morgan Stanley Can't Keep Up").