Dow Jones Today Opens Flat as Boeing Smashes Earnings Estimates

Garrett Baldwin

The Dow Jones today traded nearly 20 points off of Tuesday's close in pre-market trading despite a stellar earnings report from aviation giant Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA). Boeing beat earnings forecasts by 41% has already increased annual revenue by 5% over last year.

Investors are hoping to snap a five-day losing streak following Tuesday's 1.74% decline in the Dow. Despite strong earnings, disappointing annual forecasts from blue-chip stocks like Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) and 3M Inc. (NYSE: MMM) fueled pessimism across markets.

Despite volatile market conditions, there is still plenty of profit to be found during earnings season. The Money Morning team recently took a close look at the strongest-performing dividend stocks on the market and their profit potential. What we found was surprising – one of the strongest dividend stocks from the last 30 years is poised for a significant break out – one that will generate huge profits. Check out our findings here…

Here are the numbers from Tuesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Now here's a closer look at today's Money Morning insight, the most important market events, and stocks to watch.

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The Top Stock Market Stories for Wednesday

• Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) reported earnings before the bell and will lead the busiest day of earnings reports this week. BA shares rose nearly 2.5% after the firm reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.64 on top of $23.38 billion. That shattered EPS expectations of $2.59 and revenue projections of $22.32 billion.

• FAANG stocks are attempting to rebound today after a brutal sell-off hit the Nasdaq components Tuesday. The social media giant Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) will report earnings after the bell, but it's likely that analysts are more interested in the company's ongoing response to a data scandal that rocked investor sentiment and spurred privacy fears during the first quarter. Wall Street forecasts EPS of $1.36 on top of $11.45 billion in revenue.

• Right now, the 10-year interest rate is sitting on the border of 3%. And this news has many investors jittery about the impact on the stock market and the broader economy. Of course, many people forget that interest rates remain historically low for this stage of an economic expansion. And inflation targets remain stubbornly elusive for members of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The truth is that investors have little to worry about regarding interest rates. Instead, they should listen to Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald, who offered his insight to Fox Business Network earlier this week. Here's what Keith had to say.

Three Stocks to Watch Today: TWTR, CS, GE

• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is under pressure to fire its auditor of 109 years, KPMG (for perspective, GE began its longtime relationship with KPMG a year after the first Model-T was built). Shareholder rights firms Glass-Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services are spearheading the change and will push for adjustments during the firm's annual shareholder meeting. The move comes after a calamitous year for GE, which saw the company become the worst-performing Dow component of 2017.

• Twitter Inc. (NYSE TWTR) will lead a very busy day of earnings reports. The social media giant is expected to report EPS of $0.12 on top of $609.8 million in revenue.

• Shares in Credit Suisse (ADR) (NYSE: CS) rallied more than 4% today after the Swiss financial giant beat earnings expectations before the bell. This was a significant milestone for Credit Suisse, which has experienced three straight years of annual losses. The firm is in the middle of a turnaround strategy after it faced massive fines for selling toxic mortgage products prior to the global financial crisis.

• Look for additional earnings reports from eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM), PayPal Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM), and Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA).

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Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

Browse Garrett's articles | View Garrett's research services

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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