Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Gain; McDonald's Eyes All-Time High

Ahead of what will be a jam-packed day, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are sitting above fair value. Blue chip McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is ready to jump to all-time highs at the open after topping earnings estimates -- but Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is off over 2% in electronic trading after its earnings miss. There's still plenty more on the docket for today, too, including several high-profile earnings releases and existing home sales. 

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

• After a disappointing quarter, this former Wall Street standout is suddenly in the red on the year. 
• The most recent blue chip to send workers packing. 
• It looks like this group of traders is about to cash in on eBay Inc's (NASDAQ:EBAY) earnings beat. 

And now, on to the numbers…

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 47.4 points above fair value. 

 5 Things You Need to Know Today

 

1. Global markets were mixed ahead of the European Central Bank's (ECB) meeting today. 
2. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 685,376 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 566,036 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.83, while the 21-day moving average edged up to 0.75. 
3. Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) is higher in pre-open trading following a strong showing in the earnings confessional. The drug giant also announced an expansion of its partnership with AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN), with the two planning to work together on cancer immunotherapy testing. This all comes at a time when the entire biotech sector -- and the latter stock in particular -- is facing pricing pressure after coming under the scrutiny of regulators. 
4. After announcing masterful quarterly results, including a more than 50% jump in profit, Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW) is poised to open 5.3% higher. This could be a painful day for the huge wave of short sellers that recently piled on the stock. 
5. Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) is looking to get out of its recent funk after its earnings report this morning. The company beat the Street's profit expectations, pushing the shares 0.8% higher ahead of the bell. 

Earnings and Economic Data

 

The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators will come out today, along with jobless claims. Also stepping up to report earnings will be Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN), AT&T (T), Apollo Education Group (APOL), Cypress Semiconductor (CY), DOW, DNKN, LLY, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Juniper Networks (JNPR), Nasdaq (NDAQ), Pandora Media (P), PulteGroup (PHM), Raytheon (RTN), Royal Caribbean (RCL), Sirius XM Radio (SIRI), Southwest Airlines (LUV), and Under Armour (UA). To see what else is coming up on this week's docket, click here.