Barclays Upgrade

Barclays Capital has upgraded credit card companies American Express,Discover Financial Services and Capital One Financial.They will have 3-5 years of steadily improving earnings and lower default rates,Barclays thinks.

American Express Reports

American Express(AXP) has reported Q3 earnings of 0.74 a share,versus an estimate of 0.59.Its revenue was 7.16 billion dollars.The firm has set aside significant additions to its loan loss reserves.It aims to reduce operating costs and spending.The company had 1.4 billion in unpaid accounts,which was an increase of 51%.Cardmember spending is likely to remain soft through Q4.AXP is a holding of Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.