Stocks appeared set to open higher Wednesday aided by strong quarterly results from networking leader Cisco Systems.

The S&P futures contract rose 6.90
points to 1496.60, or 5.08 points above fair value of 1491.52, as calculated by
HL Camp & Co. The Dow futures were up 11.00 points to 11040.00, the Nasdaq
futures up 72.50 points to 3790.00.

Overnight

After Tuesday's close, Cisco Systems ( CSCO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)
reported earnings of 11 cents a share in the July 29 fourth quarter, up from 8
cents a year ago. Excluding one-time charges, the networking giant earned 16
cents, a penny above estimates, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Sales
surged 61% to $5.7 billion.

Waste Management ( WMI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said it
earned 32 cents per share in the second quarter vs. 50 cents a year ago and
beating expectations by a penny.

Lernout & Hauspie ( LHSP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)
reported earnings of 5 cents a share, before charges, in the second quarter vs.
14 cents a year ago. Analysts expected the Voice recognition software maker to
earn 3 cents a share, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial.

This Morning

Targeted Genetics ( TGEN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said it
will team up with Biogen ( BGEN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) in a deal valued at up to $125 million, and
it plans to buy a privately held rival for $67 million in stock. The gene
therapy company will develop products for Biogen. Biogen will pay Targeted
Genetics $8 million, provide a $10 million credit line to the company and commit
to a future investment of $10 million. In another transaction, Targeted Genetics
will issue 6.63 million shares of its stock to buy Sharon Hill, Pa.-based Genovo.

Polo Ralph Lauren ( RL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported
earnings of 25 cents a share in the July 1 first quarter vs. 24 cents a year ago
and a penny above estimates.

Wal-Mart Europe ( WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said it is
combining its British Valuemad shopping-comparison Web site with ShopSmart.com,
and selling a stake in the combined company on to AOL Europe ( AOL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating).