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It is every parents’ dream that their children enjoy a better life than they have. I am not sure if that’s also true for parent companies and their offspring.

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U.S. stocks retreated early Friday as jittery investors digested a weaker-than-expected economic growth report and as Europe’s debt crisis still looms in the background.

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By Chris Dieterich And Christian Berthelsen NEW YORK?U.S. stocks fell after the opening bell, jeopardizing the market’s chances for a fourth-straight weekly gain, after investors were disappointed by the most recent reading on domestic economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 41 points, or 0.3%, to 12643. The Dow closed down 22 points, or 0.2%, on Thursday, but had been up as much as 85 points at its intraday high of 12842, which was the highest seen since May 2.The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 2.3 points, or 0.2%, to 1316 and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged lower by 0.5, or 0.03%, to 2804. The nation’s gross domestic product?the value of all goods and services produced?grew at an annual rate of 2.8% between October and December, up from 1.8% growth in the third quarter. The reading fell short of expectations for 3% growth, though the data showed the U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2010. “After such a deep recession, we should be in the middle of a sharp recovery,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel, in Charlottesville, Va. “But this is a slow, grinding-out kind of recovery, and momentum can be derailed by one bad data point.” Due up later Friday at 9:55 a.m. EST are data on consumer sentiment for January. Economists forecast a slight improvement. Materials were the only sector in the S&P 500 gaining ground in early trading Friday. The consumer sector led the decline. Chevron fell the most among blue chips, down 2.6%. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.5%, with investors wary as the cost of insuring Portugal’s debt against default climbed to a fresh record Friday. Elsewhere, there were signs of progress. European Union Commissioner Olli Rehn said Greece was close to a deal with private creditors to restructure its debt, while the Italian Treasury sold the full amount of debt at its planned bill sales Friday. The debt sale boosted confidence ahead of a longer-dated auction Monday that will provide a more accurate gauge of demand for the country’s bonds. Asian bourses were mostly higher, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei was flat. Gold futures were down 0.3% at $1,722.5 an ounce, while crude-oil futures were little changed at $99.62 a barrel. The U.S. dollar lost ground against the euro and the yen. In corporate news, shares of Procter & Gamble fell 1.4% after the blue-chip consumer-products company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that exceeded forecasts, but lowered its full-year outlook citing unfavorable exchange rates. Ford Motor lost 5.7% after the auto maker’s fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates, as a result of slower sales in Europe and production losses caused by the flooding in Thailand, although revenue came in above expectations. Starbucks fell 2.4% after the coffee seller’s fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue exceeded expectations, but its second-quarter earnings outlook was below current forecasts.Juniper Networks slumped 9.6% after the company missed fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, and provided a downbeat outlook for the current quarter. Riverbed Technology shed 20% after the maker of networking gear topped fourth-quarter expectations, but provided a disappointing current-quarter outlook.Seagate Technology advanced 3.5% after the hard-disk drive maker raised its quarterly dividend by 39 cents a share and increased its stock repurchase program by $1 billion.KLA-Tencor rose 3% after semiconductor equipment maker reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue at the high end of its previously provided outlook.Solutia soared 42% after the specialty-chemicals company said it agreed to be acquired by Eastman Chemical in a cash and stock deal valued at about $3.38 billion. Eastman Chemical climbed 9.8% and was the largest gainer on the S&P. …

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U.S. stock futures lost momentum after a weaker-than-expected U.S. economic report, and while Europe’s debt crisis still looms in the background.

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By Chris Dieterich NEW YORK?Stock futures turned lower after a weaker-than-expected reading on U.S. economic growth for the fourth quarter, jeopardizing the market’s chances for a fourth-straight weekly gain.With less than an hour before the opening bell, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 41 points, or 0.3%, to 12643. The Dow closed down 22 points, or 0.2%, on Thursday, but had been up as much as 85 points at its intraday high of 12842, which was the highest seen since May 2.Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index futures fell five points, or 0.4%, to 1312 and Nasdaq 100 futures edged lower by two points, or 0.1%, to 2450. Changes in stock futures do not always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell. The nation’s gross domestic product?the value of all goods and services produced?grew at an annual rate of 2.8% between October and December, up from 1.8% growth in the third quarter. The reading fell short of expectations for 3% growth, through the data showed that the U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2010. Due up later Friday are data on consumer sentiment for January, due out at 9:55 a.m. EST. Economists forecast a slight improvement. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3%, with investors wary as the cost of insuring Portugal’s debt against default climbed to a fresh record Friday. Elsewhere, there were signs of progress. European Union Commissioner Olli Rehn said Greece was close to a deal with its private creditors on the restructure of its debt, while the Italian Treasury sold the full amount of debt at its planned bill sales Friday. The debt sale boosted confidence ahead of a longer-dated auction Monday that will provide a more accurate gauge of demand for the country’s bonds. Asian bourses were mostly higher, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.1%. Gold futures were barely changed at $1,727 an ounce, while crude-oil futures ticked up 0.5% to $100.21 a barrel. The U.S. dollar lost ground against the euro and the yen. In corporate news, shares of Procter & Gamble fell 0.7% premarket trading after the blue-chip consumer-products company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that exceeded forecasts, but lowered its full-year outlook citing unfavorable currency translation. Ford Motor lost 4.7% after the auto maker’s fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates, as a result of slower sales in Europe and production losses caused by the flooding in Thailand, although revenue came in above expectations. Starbucks fell 1.7% after the coffee seller’s fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue exceeded expectations, but its second-quarter earnings outlook was below current forecasts. Juniper Networks slumped 8.8% after the company missed fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, and provided a downbeat outlook for the current quarter. Riverbed Technology shed 16% after the maker of networking gear topped fourth-quarter expectations, but provided a disappointing current-quarter outlook. Seagate Technology advanced 3.3% after the hard-disk drive maker raised its quarterly dividend by 39 cents a share and increased its stock repurchase program by $1 billion. KLA-Tencor rose 4% after semiconductor equipment maker reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue at the high end of its previously provided outlook. Solutia soared 41% after the specialty-chemicals company said it agreed to be acquired by Eastman Chemical in a cash and stock deal valued at about $3.38 billion. Eastman Chemical climbed 6.6%. …

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Netflix is the highest flying stock on the S&P 500 Thursday, but was its fourth-quarter earnings report enough to justify a 22% run up in the stock?

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Are exchange-traded funds a prime culprit in one of the signature afflictions of the markets today — the tendency of huge swaths of stocks or other assets to swing dramatically up or down at the same time? Critics are pointing their fingers at ETFs. But evidence for their nefarious role is lacking.

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Stocks are gearing up for a higher open Friday, as investors continue to monitor Europe’s debt crisis and await the latest reading on U.S. economic growth.

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Portugal has come under heavy pressure in the bond market this week as investors fear the nation could be the next domino to fall in the eurozone debt crisis.

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By Christian Berthelsen And Chris Dieterich Stocks fell, surrendering early gains, after a wave of disappointing economic data offset strong earnings from blue chips and the Federal Reserve’s pledge to hold down interest rates.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.33 points, or 0.2%, to 12734.63, closing in the red for the third time in four sessions. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 7.60 points, or 0.6%, to 1318.45, while the Nasdaq Composite was off 13.03 points, or 0.5%, to 2805.28. For the year, the Dow has climbed 4.3%, while the S&P 500 is up 4.8%. The Nasdaq has gained 7.7%.The Dow climbed within reach of its highest intraday level since May 2008 but reversed course after sales of new homes unexpectedly fell 2.2% in December; economists had anticipated an increase of 1.9%. In addition, the Conference Board’s reconfigured leading economic index rose 0.4% in December, below estimates of a 0.8% rise. The weaker-than-expected data came after an earlier round of optimistic economic reports. Weekly jobless claims were in line with expectations, rising 21,000 to 377,000 in the week ended Jan. 21. Meanwhile, December’s orders for durable goods surged 3%, above estimates of 2%.”Investors are digesting how far and fast the market has moved since its October lows,” said Jeff Schwarte, U.S.-equities portfolio manager at Principal Global Investors. “I think it’s prudent to expect some consolidation.”Markets showed waning enthusiasm for the Federal Reserve’s plan, announced Wednesday, to keep short-term interest rates near zero for almost three more years, as well as signals the central bank could restart a bond-buying program to charge U.S. economic growth. The Dow’s declines were cushioned by fourth-quarter earnings from Caterpillar, which surged 60% as the heavy-machinery maker pointed to higher sales volume and an increase in new-equipment sales. Shares climbed 2.1% and led blue chips higher. Among other Dow components, 3M’s fourth-quarter earnings rose a better-than-expected 2.8% as the consumer- and industrial-products maker saw strong growth in its industrial and transportation segment, but its display and graphics unit continued to post weaker sales. Shares rose 1.3%.Meanwhile, AT&T swung to a fourth-quarter loss on several large charges, though revenue beat expectations. Shares fell 2.5% and were the Dow’s worst performers.Elsewhere, Netflix surged 22% after the online video and DVD-rental company reported solid subscriber rates even as earnings fell. E*Trade Financial slid 15% after the online brokerage reported a net loss for the fourth quarter and revenue that fell short of expectations. J.C. Penney shot up 19% after executives said the company will handle its more-than-$1 billion transformation without borrowing. SanDisk’s fourth-quarter profit fell 42% from a year ago on the back of a large tax-provision benefit, while core earnings registered a slight improvement. Shares slumped 11% Monster Worldwide tumbled 20% after the job-search software maker reported disappointing quarterly results and offered a downbeat outlook. Write to Chris Dieterich at christopher.dieterich@dowjones.com …

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