This is only going to work if there is only one .text element on the page.
var elem = $('.text');
var textParts = elem.html().split(".");
var first = "<span class='red'>" + textParts.shift() + ".</span>";
elem.html(first + textParts.join("."));
If there are multiple it will need an each loop.
var elems = $('.text');
elems.each( function(){
var elem = $(this);
var textParts = elem.html().split(".");
var first = "<span class='red'>" + textParts.shift() + ".</span>";
elem.html(first + textParts.join("."));
});
Of course this uses a class to set the color, basic class would be
.text .red{
color: #FF0000;
}
Running example: http://jsfiddle.net/a68dS/1/