Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Rise Ahead of Fed Minutes

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are indicating another positive open after two straight wins. Fed talk is likely to dominate the day, with the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) latest meeting set for release this afternoon. A number of regional Fed presidents are scheduled to speak, as well. A government report on domestic supplies will likely keep crude in focus amid a volatile week for commodities, while more strong earnings from the retail sector are adding to this morning's bullish case.

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

• Looking to feast on some bullish picks this Thanksgiving? Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White has 30 stocks set to outperform. 
• Schaeffer's contributor Adam Warner searches for the perfect time to fade an overbought CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). 
• Despite its ongoing technical difficulties, bulls are betting on this coffee concern ahead of its earnings report. 

And now, on to the numbers…

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 34.5 points above fair value. 

 5 Things You Need to Know Today

 

1. Terror fears are again weighing on global equities, following a pair of Air France bomb threats and a police raid just outside Paris.
2. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 953,324 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 787,142 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.83, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.70. 
3. Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) followed its primary competitor's strong earnings report with impressive quarterly numbers of its own. The home goods retailer topped analysts' expectations, and has picked up 2.1% in electronic trading. This is still a more muted swing than the options market was pricing in for LOW. 
4. ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) is up 1.7% ahead of the open, on news the firm will split into two publicly traded companies. We'll see if CAG's second major fundamental move this month is enough to lift it atop recent congestion in the $41-$42 region. 
5. The recent wave of daily fantasy sports investigations has now hit Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), with the Internet portal reportedly getting subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman -- who earlier this month banned industry leaders DraftKings and FanDuel from accepting payments from players within the state. Maybe unsurprisingly, YHOO shareholders don't seem too concerned, with the stock primed for a positive open. 

Earnings and Economic Data

 

Data on housing starts will also be released today. Among the regional Fed presidents speaking today will be New York's William Dudley, Atlanta's Dennis Lockhart, and Cleveland's Loretta Mester.

For earnings, Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR), L Brands (LB), NetApp (NTAP), and salesforce.com (CRM) will report.