Dow Futures Flirt With Triple-Digit Lead Amid Strong Earnings Reports
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures arehigher this morning, flirting with a triple-digit lead, after the index kicked off Thanksgiving weekin the black yesterday. S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are also pointed higher ahead of what should be another light-volume session. Traders are digesting the latest batch of earnings from the retail sector, with Urban Outfitters (URBN) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) among the stocks pointed higher on quarterly reports. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Janet Yellen -- who yesterday said she will leave the central bank altogether at the end of her term --is expected to answer questions at an event in New York.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Did the VIX just signal a sell-off for stocks? Schaeffer's Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone takes a look.Options traders are piling on this weak blue-chip stock.This software stock could make a big move tomorrow.Plus, AT&T gets sued; the shoe retailer hurt by hurricanes; and more on Dollar Tree's earnings beat. 
5 Things You Need to Know TodayThe Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 905,561 call contracts traded on Monday, compared to 533,482 put contracts -- the fewest puts in five weeks. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.59. The 21-day moving average remained at 0.64.AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) is being sued by the U.S. Justice Department, in an attempt to block the telecom giant from its proposed $85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner (TWX). The suit believes the deal violates antitrust regulations and could raise prices for consumers. Despite the news, T stock is merely down 0.3% in electronic trading. The telecom stock fell to a two-year low of $32.55 on Nov. 6, and has shed more than 18.5% year-to-date.DSW Inc. (NYSE:DSW) stock is down 13% in electronic trading, after the shoe retailer reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of analyst expectations. The company noted that its sales were impacted by the quarter's hurricanes. DSW stock had tacked on 44% during the past three months, but could test the $20 level today.Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) stock isup 2.3% ahead of the bell, after the discount retailer reported third-quarter earnings and revenue above Wall Street estimates.DLTR stock scored an annual high of $97.24 yesterday, and has tacked on nearly 26% year-to-date.
Existing home sales will be released later today. Analog Devices (ADI), Burlington Stores (BURL), Campbell Soup (CPB), Chico's FAS (CHS),GameStop (GME), Guess? (GES), Hormel Foods (HRL), and Salesforce.com (CRM) report earnings.
Overseas Trading
It was a positive session in Asia today, with the regional benchmarks boosted by a surge in tech stocks. Hong Kong's Hang Seng led the way with its 1.9% surge, thanks to another strong session for Chinese internet name Tencent -- which briefly surpassed Facebook in terms of market cap in intraday action. Elsewhere in the region, Japan's Nikkei added 0.7%, China's Shanghai Composite closed up 0.6%, and South Korea's Kospi tacked on 0.1%.
European markets are higher at midday, with auto stocks providing the biggest tailwinds following Volkswagen's well-received earnings report. Nevertheless, traders are keeping a cautious eye trained on Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated in a televised interview that she'd rather hold new elections than deal with a minority government. Despite this uncertainty, the German DAX is flirting with a 0.9% lead, the French CAC 40 is up 0.7%, and London's FTSE 100 is 0.3% higher.