Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Dip Amid Earnings Blitz

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are perched below fair value -- and signaling a potential end to the index's monumental winning streak -- as stocks react to a raft of earnings reports. Among Dow stocks, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) are all struggling pre-market following mixed turns in the earnings confessional. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell, and across the pond, the European Central Bank (ECB) stood pat on interest rates.

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

• Options traders are counting on higher highs for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
• Why contrarian bulls shouldn't sleep on this social media stock.
• Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) earnings lifted this fellow blue chip to a multi-year high.
• Plus... All eyes on Draghi, Southwest set to stumble, and Tesla's "master plan."

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are roughly 13 points below fair value.

5 Things You Need to Know Today
 

1. Stimulus talk out of Japan lifted Asian markets, but European stocks are stumbling as ECB President Mario Draghi takes the podium, following the bank's rate decision.
2. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 850,542 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 485,327 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio slid to 0.57, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.65.
3. Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) is bracing for a nearly 5% drop at the open, after the air transportation giant reported lower-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales. Also, LUV said it expects revenue per available seat mile (RASM) to drop 3%-4% in the current quarter -- just the latest dose of bad news for the firm.
4. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk unveiled his "master plan" for the automaker, which will include electric trucks and buses, car-sharing programs, solar energy systems, and improvements to the company's embattled "Autopilot" self-driving system. Apparently, Wall Street isn't impressed, with TSLA down 1.2% pre-market.
5. QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) has soared 8.2% ahead of the open, benefiting from an earnings beat and a subsequent round of bullish brokerage attention. Specifically, Goldman Sachs added the chipmaker to its "Conviction Buy" list, and was one of at least 12 analysts to up its price target on QCOM. Suffice it to say, a recent crop of call sellers could be in trouble.

Earnings and Economic Data

The busiest day of the week will include the Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey and existing home sales. A hefty schedule for earnings reports will include Visa (V), AT&T (T), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Alaska Air (ALK), Biogen (BIIB), Blackstone (BX), Capital One (COF), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), DR Horton (DHI), Hawaiian Holdings (HA), Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), Pandora Media (P), PayPal (PYPL), PulteGroup (PHM), Schlumberger (SLB), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Sherwin-Williams (SHW), Starbucks (SBUX), and Union Pacific (UNP). To see what else is on this week's schedule, click here. 

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