Stocks Market Futures Up Today on TWTR, GOOG, and SOTU News

By Garrett Baldwin, Executive Producer, Money Morning • January 20, 2015

Good morning! Stock market futures today (Tuesday) forecast a 90-point increase for the Dow Jones from Friday's close. The U.S. stock markets were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day.

What to Watch Today: Investors will watch Wall Street earnings reports and investor confidence ahead of a major meeting by members of the European Central Bank later this week.

Investors will also pay attention to growing economic concerns in China where the nation reported its slowest growth rate in 24 years this morning. The Chinese government reported that the economy failed to meet expectations for the first time since 1998.

Another key issue for investors is tonight's State of the Union Address, where President Obama is expected to raise taxes for the highest-earning Americans. This is President Obama's sixth SOTU, and his first to a Republican-controlled Congress.

Here's what else you should know about the stock market today - including your "Money Morning Tip of the Day" - to make it a profitable Tuesday:

• Going Global: Shares of Twitter Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTR) were up more than 1% this morning on news it plans to purchase India-based mobile-marketing company ZipDial for an undisclosed amount. The deal will boost the company's ad revenues in the international markets. In a blog post, the firm said the deal will make it "even more accessible to people around the world."
• Liftoff: Shares of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) were up marginally this morning on news that the tech giant may soon invest about $1 billion to boost its efforts to provide global Internet access via satellites. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google plans to invest in Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a firm backed by Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.
• Revenues Rise: Shares of Smith & Wesson (Nasdaq: SWHC) were up nearly 10% this morning after the company raised its outlook for third-quarter results. The company said it projects an increase in quarterly revenues to come in between $124 million to $126 million. That is an increase from its previous range between $113 million to $118 million.
• Financial Fallout: Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) slipped more than 3% this morning after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings and missed quarterly revenues by a steep margin. The investment bank was affected by declining trading volumes. The firm said its fourth-quarter profits were $0.47 per share, missing quarterly estimates by one cent.
• Workforce Woes: The problems continue for entertainment giant DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA). Yesterday, news broke that the company has begun issuing layoff notices to employees. The company continues to reel from a disappointing few years in which its films have failed to live up to revenue expectations. Shares of DWA were down roughly 0.7% this morning.
• Oil Prices Today: The fallout continues in the energy sector after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its 2015 growth forecast. This morning, February 2015 futures for WTI oil slipped nearly 1.2% to $47.49 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil jumped about 0.3% to hit $48.97 per barrel. The IMF slashed its growth forecasts over the next two years, calling for global growth at 3.5% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2016.
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  Earnings Reports: Stay tuned for an earnings report from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI), Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL).

Full U.S. Economic Calendar Jan. 20, 2015

• Housing Market Index at 10 a.m.
• Federal Reserve Gov. Jerome Powell Speaks at 10 a.m.
• 4-Week Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
• 3-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
• 6-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.