first quarter

Average domestic airfares rose 4.4 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same period a year earlier, the government said Wednesday in an analysis that was based on a small sample of itineraries and excluded some high-priced destinations.

In the second quarter, 50 merger and acquisition deals of venture-backed companies were completed. That’s down from 70 in the first quarter.

The economy turned in a slightly better performance than previously estimated for the first quarter, mostly spurred by stronger sales of U.S. products overseas.

Rite Aid Corp. says it swung to a big loss in its first-quarter as it continues to spend heavily to integrate more than 1,850 newly acquired stores.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion reported a higher first-quarter profit, but its shares dropped sharply in after-hours trading as the results and outlook fell short of analyst expectations.

The electronics retailer said its first-quarter profit fell 7 percent, but it still beat Wall Street’s expectations because of a lower share count and a rise in revenue.

Not long ago, it seemed like the worst was over. As the first quarter wound down, the credit crisis appeared to be easing, the housing market seemed like it might get some footing and Wall Street was growing confident that it had finally found a bottom after months of volatility.

Fannie Mae reported a loss of $2.51 billion in the first quarter, its third straight quarterly loss.

Even the worst earnings announcements try to spin things in a positive way; it's necessary to do a little deep-reading to find out what really happened.  comScore's first-quarter earnings just didn't have any bad components, though, and the company's stock is up about 20 percent this morning as a result.

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Net income in the first quarter rose to $5.17 billion at Chevron as soaring oil prices outweighed weak profits from gasoline production.