While higher rates hurt earnings by raising borrowing costs, investors feel technology companies will suffer most from the Federal Reserve's tightening, since many of them already have slim profits.
G.M., the nation's largest automaker, said its third-quarter earnings fell 14 percent because of another large loss in Europe, as well as slimmer profit margins in its core North American market.
But Malawi still has a long way to go, said Mrs. Phiri, who uses her slim and erratic earnings as a consultant on H.I.V.-AIDS to support a community-based organization in Salina, a town on Lake Malawi about 60 miles east of the capital, Lilongwe.
The company, which offers cost management software and services to businesses, trades at 11 times earnings, slim for a software company, and is actually trading at a slight discount to book value.
Facing shrinking market share and bloated inventories in the United States, especially in sport utility vehicles and pickups, the company projected slimmer third-quarter earnings than analysts have been expecting.
Nvidia trades for a slim price to earnings-growth ratio of.75.
The bank's earnings, a slim $732 million, amounted to 3 cents a share.
Aetna, which has been under pressure from disgruntled shareholders to slim down, said operating earnings were $184 million, or $1.29 a share, compared with $158.5 million, or $1.01 a share, in the comparable quarter a year earlier.
eToys generated sales of $25 million in 1998, but had no earnings and slim margins.
3M, the maker of Post-its and Scotch tape, said on Thursday that it managed a slim increase in second-quarter earnings as cost-cutting offset a revenue shortfall.
