Goldman Sachs Sinks Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are trading lower, as Wall Street digests a fresh round of corporate earnings reports. While shares of financial firms Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are trading lower after their quarterly results, Netflix stock is almost 9% higher in electronic trading after the streaming giant posted strong second-quarter subscriber growth. This is helping lift futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), though this pre-market upside is modest as U.S. stocks struggle for direction.

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

• Schaeffer's Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone highlights key ETF strikes to watch this pre-Fed expiration week.
• Rising copper futures sparked heavy options trading on Freeport-McMoRan stock.
• An options trader's guide to buying and selling puts.
• Plus, an abandoned healthcare vote weighs on the dollar, and 2 Dow stocks pointing to post-earnings gains.

5 Things You Need to Know Today
  

1. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 782,777 call contracts traded on Monday, compared to 489,244 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.63, and the 21-day moving average fell to 0.62.
2. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vacated the effort to replace Obamacare after two more Republican senators said they would not vote for the revised GOP healthcare bill, and is now joining President Donald Trump in calling for a straight repeal. The decision is weighing on the greenback, with the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) trading down 0.6% at 94.61.
3. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of $1.83 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80. And while quarterly revenue of $18.84 billion fell short of expectations, the consumer products specialist boosted the lower end of its full-year sales forecast to $75.8 billion, and also hiked its 2017 profit forecast to a range between $7.12 and $7.22 per share. JNJ stock is up 0.6% in electronic trading, after closing last night at $132.15.
4. UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) said its second-quarter profit arrived at $2.46 per share, better than the $2.38 analysts were expecting. The insurance giant reported revenue of $50.05 billion, which matched the consensus estimate, and raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to a range of $9.75 to $9.90 per share. UNH shares are trading up 0.2% ahead of the bell, following last night's close at $186.35.
5. International trade data showed the price to import and export goods declined in June. The NAHB housing market index and Treasury International Capital (TIC) data will also be released. International Business Machines (IBM), Altaba (AAB), Charles Schwab (SCHW), CSX (CSX), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Novartis (NVS), TD Ameritrade (AMTD), and United Continental Holdings (UAL) are scheduled to report earnings.

Overseas Trading

Stocks in Tokyo sold off after Monday's holiday, as traders reacted to the apparent collapse of U.S. healthcare reform. As the yen surged against the dollar, Japan's Nikkei tumbled 0.6% to settle just below the 20,000 level. Elsewhere in the region, most equity indexes managed mild gains, with China-listed shares recovering from the prior session's plunge. By the close, South Korea's Kospi tacked on 0.04%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.2%, and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%.

European markets are trading lower at midday. After catching a lift from Beijing's solid GDP number on Monday, resource stocks are giving back some recent gains amid Rio Tinto's freshly cut guidance for iron ore exports. The German DAX has shed 1.1%, while the French CAC 40 is off 0.8%. However, London's FTSE 100 has pared its decline to 0.05% at last look, as tame inflation data has tamped down rate-hike expectations.