The Stock Market Today Under Pressure from Renewed Ebola Panic

Good morning!

The stock market today (Friday) is showing signs of retreating over Ebola virus fears, and a bad earnings report from biggest online retailer in the world Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). Stock market futures indicate a market open 43 points lower than yesterday's close.

The most important number to watch today is the 10 a.m. report on new home sales in September. In August, new home sales jumped more than 18% to hit a higher-than-expected annual rate of 504,000. This was the largest monthly increase since January 1992. Consensus expectations are for the annual figure to retreat into the range of 460,000. However, continued growth in new home sales would likely lead to a surge in housing stocks this afternoon.

Here are the top stories affecting the stock market today:

• Fear in New York: Public health officials are telling citizens of New York not to panic after a local doctor contracted the Ebola virus following his trip to Africa. The 33-year-old man contracted the disease while treating patients in West Africa as a member of Doctors Without Borders. He has been quarantined after showing symptoms Thursday.
• Bad Beat: Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) stock slipped more than 11% in post-market hours after a reporting an earnings and revenue miss. But EPS and revenue aren't the numbers investors should be glued to. In fact, AMZN's key earnings number may surprise you...
• Microsoft Soars: Shares of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) jumped more than 3% after hours yesterday. The software giant reported per-share earnings of $0.54, besting Wall Street expectations of $0.49. The company said that it continues to see sales growth in both cloud services and mobile, the two areas of expertise that led to the appointment of Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella. Microsoft stock is up more than 33% on the year. Here's the full story on yesterday's MSFT earnings...
• Poor Warren: Bloomberg reports that Warren Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) have lost approximately $2.7 billion on paper since the beginning of the third-quarter earnings season. The firm's four big holdings have failed to impress investors -  American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP),Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) all slumped after reporting weak Q3 earnings. For a list of today's hot stocks to watch, be sure to check out our daily report here...
• Oil Prices Today: Oil prices slumped this morning over concerns that a new case of Ebola in New York City could lead to travel bans and restrictions. Crude investors also renewed concerns about global growth in Europe and China. Brent crude, the global benchmark priced in London, slipped more than 1% to his $85.91. Meanwhile, WTI crude, priced in New York, slipped 1% to hit $81.26.
• Tip of the Day: With markets showing the roughest patch of volatility in 20 years, investors must ask themselves one question: "Should I be in the markets right now?" That's the question that our Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald tackled for Money Morning readers this morning. With more than 33 years navigating global markets, Fitz-Gerald has seen it all. He explains today that there are always sound stocks and companies to own in any market condition...
• Economic Calendar: Today's light economic calendar features the September report for new home sales.

• Earnings Reports: Stay tuned for earnings reports from United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS), Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL), Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE: B), and IMS Health Holdings Inc. (NYSE: IMS).

Full U.S. Economic Calendar October 24, 2014 (NYSE: all times EDT)

• New Home Sales at 10 a.m.

Today brought news of another case of Ebola on U.S. soil. If the virus scare triggers another stock selloff, here's what to do...