Dow Jones Industrial Average Eyes Best Month in 4 Years

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are signaling a higher open, amid a busy day of earnings and economic data. Already hitting the Street were better-than-expected earnings from blue chips Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which could end up burning recent option bears. Against this backdrop, traders appear to be overlooking a smaller-than-forecast rise in personal income. In fact, as we head into the final session of October, the Dow is eyeing its best single-month performance in four years, sitting on a 9% gain as of Thursday's close.

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

• GoPro Inc's (NASDAQ:GPRO) collapse claimed this once-proud stock as its main victim.
• How one drugmaker blazed its way to a 40% single-day gain. 
• Ford Motor Company's (NYSE:F) latest attempt to come back from post-earnings losses fell flat.

And now, on to the numbers…

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are more than 50 points above fair value.

 5 Things You Need to Know Today

 

1. Tokyo-based stocks rallied following the Bank of Japan's decision on monetary policy, while European markets are feeling the heat from downbeat earnings.
2. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 920,482 call contracts traded on Thursday, compared to 517,364 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio inched up to 0.56, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.70. 
3. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc's (NYSE:VRX) relationship with specialty pharmacy Philidor -- which prompted Citron Research to accuse the drugmaker of fraud -- has been terminated, with VRX CEO J. Michael Pearson saying, "We have lost confidence in Philidor's ability to continue to operate in a manner that is acceptable to Valeant." Interestingly, Philidor said it will shutter operations as soon as possible. VRX is down 7.1% pre-market on the news, adding to recent losses.
4. CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) has given up 3.2% in electronic trading, after the company reported mixed quarterly earnings. The early move is just a little more dramatic than what the options market was expecting.
5. Alternative energy rivals First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) are headed in opposite directions in pre-market trading, following their respective turns in the earnings confessional. FSLR's huge earnings beat and upwardly revised full-year profit guidance has the stock up more than 12%, while SCTY is bracing for an 18% drop, following a wider-than-expected loss and a round of bearish brokerage attention.

Earnings and Economic Data

 

Today's economic calendar includes personal income and spending data, the Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI), and the final Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for October. AbbVie (ABBV), Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), CBOE Holdings (CBOE), Phillips 66 (PSX), and Seagate Technology (STX) will all report earnings. To see what's coming up on next week's docket, click here.