Today is the last day of trading for the week as investors get ready to celebrate Easter.  The history of the Good Friday shutdown, the only non-federal holiday the markets are closed, is posted on the Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/northwestquadrantwealth Today we get a boat load of earnings news.

General Electric saw profits fall 16% in Q1 as they saw a slump in their transportation business that sells locomotives.  GE is currently in the process of selling their credit card business that many believe is a burden to its core business growth. (Reuters)

IBM revenue was down 4% and profits fell 21% during the first quarter as its hardware sector continues to struggle.  The company is currently selling its low end server business to Lenovo. Their software business posted gains. (Associated Press)

Investment bank Goldman Sachs saw profits and revenue fall last quarter but not as much as the street expected. A decline in trading revenue was the biggest drag on the companies still robust $2.26 billion profit. (Wall Street Journal)

PepsiCo sales popped 4% last quarter and profits jumped 13% as their snack business did well.  Snack business growth in Latin America was up 5%.  But, like their competitor Coke North American soda sales fell. (Associated Press)