Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Slip Amid Data Dump

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are below fair value this morning, as U.S. stocks look ready to cool after a two-day win streak. It'll be a data-heavy day, with traders looking for clues ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls report. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the past week unexpectedly rose to 278,000, while revised fourth-quarter productivity fell 2.2% as unit labor costs rose 3.3%. Elsewhere, crude futures are edging lower, with April-dated oil down 0.2% at $34.59 per barrel. 

• Why this analyst isn't a fan of the newest member of the S&P 500 Index (SPX). 
• One biotech exploded thanks to a rare designation, while a sector peer is gaining momentum ahead of a key FDA meeting. 
• Are the bullish stars aligning for Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA)? 
• Plus... Costco's earnings miss, another Herbalife controversy, and the 3-D printing stock ready to surge.  

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. Why traders are exercising caution in Europe.
2. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 783,787 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 499,105 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio moved down to 0.64, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.75.  
3. Like one of its big-cap retail peers earlier in the month, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) announced disappointing earnings for the fourth quarter, citing weaker traffic and a strong dollar.  The stock, which closed Wednesday at $152.79, has dropped 9.5% since its all-time high back in December. 
4. Bill Ackman will be happy to see that Herbalife Ltd.'s (NYSE:HLF) recent rally is about to hit a big speed bump. Shares of the nutrition stock are set for a 9.5% stumble at the open, after the company admitted that database errors led it to overstate its customer growth figures from a year ago. 
5. 3-D printing stock Stratasys, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) has had a rough 2016, dropping 11% to hit $20.89. Today, though, the shares are looking at an 11.3% pop, after the company's fourth-quarter results and full-year outlook were better than Wall Street expected. 

Earnings and Economic Data

A busy day for economic reports will include weekly jobless claims, productivity and labor costs data, factory orders, and the ISM non-manufacturing index. Earnings will also heat up, with Ambarella (AMBA), Barnes & Noble (BKS), Burlington Stores (BURL), Ciena (CIEN), H & R Block (HRB), Joy Global (JOY), Kroger (KR), Smith & Wesson (SWHC), and Trina Solar (TSL) among companies reporting. To see what else is coming up on this week's agenda, click here.