Dow Futures Drop Over 300 Points as Inflation Heats Up

Stock futures are cratering this morning, dragged lower by a bigger-than-anticipated rise in inflation data. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.5% in January amid "broad-based" price increases -- marking the largest gain in five months, and exceeding consensus estimates for a 0.3% uptick. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading over 300 points below fair value, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are also sharply lower. Against this backdrop, 10-year Treasury yields are once again on the rise. 

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

• The best stocks to target next week, according to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
• Analysts think you should buy this tech stock before earnings.
• Outperforming Twitter stock was targeted by call traders.
• Plus, Chipotle taps a new CEO; Target gets upgraded; and Celgene ups the ante on buybacks. 

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 708,555 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 515,164 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.73, while the 21-day moving average jumped to 0.62. 
2. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) stock is up nearly 11% in electronic trading, after the company announced it was appointing Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol as its new chief executive. Chipotle shares fell to a five-year low of $247.82 on Feb. 9, and have shed 40.6% in the past 52 weeks.
3. Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) are up 0.4% ahead of the bell, after Baird upgraded the retailer to "outperform" from "neutral." Target stock ha pared some gains since setting an annual high of $78.70 on Jan. 23, but recently bounced from support at its 50-day moving average.
4. Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) stock is up 0.3% in electronic trading, after the biotech company announced an additional $5 billion share buyback program, effective immediately. Celgene stock fell to a three-year low of $88.32 on Friday, and has lost nearly 30% in the last six months.
5. Today is a busy day, with monthly retail sales and weekly crude inventories set for release, as well as data on business inventories. Cisco Systems (CSCO), Applied Materials (AMAT), Barrick Gold (ABX), CenturyLink (CTL), Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS), Goldcorp (GG), Groupon (GRPN), Hilton (HLT), Hyatt (H), Kinross Gold (KGC), LendingClub (LC), Marathon Oil (MRO), Marriott (MAR), NetApp (NTAP), Shire (SHPG), SodaStream (SODA), SunPower (SPWR), and TripAdvisor (TRIP) are slated to report earnings.

Overseas Markets Cautiously Higher

Most Asian markets closed higher today, with Hong Kong stocks leading the pack ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Specifically, the Hang Seng surged 2.3% during the low-volume session, thanks to a rally in bank shares and Tencent's 2.7% pop. Elsewhere in the region, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.5%, and South Korea's Kospi tacked on 1.1%. On the flip side, Japan's Nikkei suffered a third straight loss, shedding 0.4%, as the yen rose to a 15-month high versus the U.S. dollar and data showed a lower-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP).

European stocks are higher at midday, following in Wall Street's bullish lead from Tuesday. Ahead of this morning's inflation report in the U.S., traders were reacting to a narrower-than-expected fourth-quarter loss for Swiss lender Credit Suisse, which helped boost financial shares in intraday action. At last check, the French CAC 40 was up 0.8%, while London's FTSE 100 and the German DAX were each flirting with 0.7% leads -- the latter after well-received GDP data, which showed the economy growing at 0.6% in the fourth quarter.