Market Minute: Facebook's Global Internet Plan; Sony Console Set for Debut

Facebook looks to connect the world, and Sony sets a date for the new PlayStation. Those stocks and more are what's in business news Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) stretched its losing streak to five sessions, edging 7 points lower Tuesday. But the The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) gained 6, snapping its losing streak. The Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC) rose 24.

Facebook (FB) founder Mark Zuckerberg is forming a coalition of tech giants to help expand Internet access to most of the people in the world. He 's enlisted Nokia (NOK), Samsung, Qualcomm (QCOM) and others to partner on a project dubbed Internet.org. Zuckerberg says his aim is bring the "knowledge economy" to billions of underserved people around the globe.

The video game console war is heating up. Sony (SNE) will launch its new PlayStation 4 on Nov. 15, and it will cost $100 less than the new Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox One, which rolls out at about the same time. The two companies have sold nearly 150 million game consoles since their last major updates, six to seven years ago.

On the earnings front, Target (TGT) may have found the sweet spot in the retail market. The company's earnings topped Wall Street estimates. But its outlook for the rest of the year was a bit disappointing.

Home improvement retailer Lowe 's (LOW) reports a 26 percent earnings jump and raised its forecast for the full year. Like its bigger rival Home Depot (HD) did Tuesday, Lowe 's credited the recovery in the housing market.

Homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL) posted results in line with expectations. The company says the housing market is in the "early stages" of its rebound.

The iconic photo company Eastman Kodak is long past its prime, but it's still alive. A bankruptcy court judge has approved the company 's plan to restructure as a digital imaging company, but its future no longer includes film, cameras or consumer photo developing.

And at 2 p.m. Eastern time, the Federal Reserve releases minutes from its last policy meeting, and they could offer the best clues yet about when the central bank might start to cut back on its massive bond-buying program.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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