Dow Charges Higher Alongside Small Caps

Earnings continued to flood headlines and influence investor sentiment today, giving Wall Street a much-needed boost after yesterday's selloff. Cisco Systems (CSCO) led the Dow 337 points higher, while traders also digested upbeat quarterly reports off the S&P 500. The Nasdaq managed to finish with a comfortable gain, an improvement from Tuesday's tech plunge, as Wall Street digests a second monthly fall in import prices.

Meanwhile, the market's "fear gauge," or Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX), slipped back below 20, and small caps surged for a fourth day, after a vivid outperformance on the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM).

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

• Blue chip levels with post-earnings pop.
• Check in on next week's trading calendar.
• Plus, another blue-chip earnings to digest; e-tailer brushes of bear note; and don't sleep on this small cap.

5 Things to Know Today 

1. Car manufacturer General Motors (GM) has agreed to a deal with Lithium Americas (LAC), which will provide up to $625 million for a joint mining venture called Thacker Pass. (CNBC)
2. Boxer Floyd Mayweather purchased around 60 buildings in New York City, an affordable-housing portfolio worth $402 million, amid a housing market attempting to recover from interest rates and rising costs. (Bloomberg)
3. Nvidia peer selling off today.
4. Which airline stock just enjoyed a post-earnings surge.
5. Chip stock overdue for a bounce.

Crude Prices Extend Losses

Today marked a fourth consecutive loss for crude prices, the commodity maintaining two-week lows. November-dated West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 19 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $70.39 per barrel for the session.

On the flipside, gold futures were enjoying more gains, nearing fresh record highs and a continued drop in the 10-year Treasury yield. Gold for December delivery added 0.5% to trade at $2,692.60, at last check.