Money Minute: Tech Giants Set to Soar; Twitter Sets Modest Price for IPO

Two tech giants are set to jump on Wall Street. That and more top money stories you need to know Friday.

Microsoft continues to show steady growth, despite the sluggish market for personal computers. The software giant's quarterly profit rose 17 percent -- significantly better than analysts had expected -- led by strong sales of its software for businesses. Microsoft (MSFT) shares are up 26 percent this year.

Amazon (AMZN) shares are also set to soar after the company reported revenue is rising at a rapid pace. But the retail giant is still having trouble turning that into a profit. The company posted a loss of $41 million as it continues to spend lots of money to expand its distribution centers, its movie streaming business and its technology offerings such as tablet computers.

Also out this morning, quarterly earnings reports from economic bellwethers Procter & Gamble (PG) and UPS (UPS).

On Wall Street Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 95 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) added 5, and the Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC) gained 21 points.

The Food and Drug Administration is looking to place new limits on some of the most widely prescribed drugs in the country. It's proposing to limit the number of pills and refills doctors can prescribe for powerful painkillers such as Vicodin, Lortab and a number of generics. The intent is to reign in the widespread abuse of the narcotic painkillers. The number of deaths from these prescriptions has quadrupled since 1999.

Twitter is one step closer to going public. The micro-blogging company set the price range for its initial public offering at $17 to $20 a share, which is at the low end of analyst expectations. That price values the company at up to $11 billion. That makes Twitter one of the largest-ever tech IPOs, even though it pales in comparison to Facebook (FB). Its initial offering last year valued the company at a whopping $81 billion. The Twitter IPO is likely to hit the market here at the NYSE on Nov. 7.

And Google's (GOOG) YouTube is planning to challenge Spotify and other music streaming services. According to various news reports, the company is expected to charge $10 a month for an unlimited number of downloads, as well as ad-free access to an uninterrupted stream of YouTube's music videos.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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