Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Signal Triple-Digit Surge

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are signaling a triple-digit lead this morning. A meeting of major oil producers spurred talk of freezing global oil production, but the lack of an outright production cut has March-dated crude futures off their highs north of $30, up 0.2% at $29.50 per barrel. Meanwhile, traders are digesting another contraction in the Empire State manufacturing index, and awaiting speeches from several central bankers throughout the day.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• How Carl Icahn strong-armed American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG).
• Buyout buzz had The Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) and Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) popping.
• One Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) option trader got out in the nick of time.
• Plus... Stimulus hopes across the pond, Apple Pay expands, and Disney shakes off another loss.
  

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 167 points above fair value.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

 

1. European benchmarks are mixed after comments from European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi.
2. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 810,883 call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 573,994 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.71, while the 21-day moving average slid down to 0.75.  
3. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is up 1.3% in pre-market trading, after the company announced it will officially launch Apple Pay in China on Thursday. The blue chip also unveiled plans to sell a 10-part bond.
4. Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is bouncing back from last week's losses, up 1% before the bell, despite reporting a loss at its Hong Kong theme park for 2015.
5. Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) downwardly revised its fourth-quarter earnings to reflect $784.6 million in Medicaid rebates, but the shares are still pointing higher along with the broad market this morning.

Earnings and Economic Data

The National Association of Home Builder (NAHB) housing market index and Treasury International Capital (TIC) data are due today. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren are all slated to speak throughout the day.

Agilent (A), Baxalta (BXLT), Boyd Gaming (BYD), Cerner (CERN), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Devon Energy (DVN), Express Scripts (ESRX), First Energy (FE), Fossil (FOSL), Hormel Foods (HRL), Vasco Data Security (VDSI), and Yandex NV (YNDX) are among the companies stepping into the earnings confessional. To see what's on next week's holiday-shortened agenda, click here.