Preopen Trading: Mixed Futures Mark Start of Election Day

Take the shades off, pal. The futures aren't that bright. They're mixed.

For those of you just emerging from under a rock, today is Election Day, a hustling, bustling time in which Americans flock to elementary school gymnasiums to vote for the next President of the United States. And ahead of today's heated contest, futures on the Globex exchange were lower.

As of 7 a.m. EST, S&P 500 futures were off 4 to 1142.5, 1.7 points above fair value as calculated by Prudential Securities. Nasdaq 100 futures were off 28 to 3303, about 11 points below fair value as calculated by TheStreet.com.

Cisco (CSCO Quote) released earnings last night and beat the Street by a penny, the 15th straight time the company has beaten estimates by that margin. The night apparently still belongs to Michelob -- despite the good news, Cisco took a hit in after-hours trading. This morning, Cisco was lower in preopen trading on Instinet, an electronic trading exchange that trades both before and after the bell, last at $54, down $1.13 from its New York close.

There's another mover on Instinet this morning, and not one that many people are used to hearing about. ASM Lithography Holding(ASML Quote), an advanced lithography projection system servicer and provider (an essential part of making modern integrated circuits) from the Netherlands, last traded at $28.25, 94 cents lower than its closing level in New York Monday. The reason? Monday, the U.S. government approved the company's merger with Silicon Valley Group(SVGI Quote).

In economic news, investors can look forward to some retail figures and a treasury auction. At 8:30 a.m. EST, the BTM-UBSW Weekly Chain Store Sales will be released, followed by the Redbook Retail Average at 10 a.m. EST. Later in the afternoon, the results of the Treasury's five-year bond auction will be released. For more on economic data, check out TheStreet.com's Economic Databank.

European volume was anemic this morning as the folks across the pond sat on their hands and waited for American markets to open, concerned about how markets will react to today's election. The French and British markets were marginally higher, while the Germans took a hit. London's FTSE 100 was up 10.9 to 6441.90, while Paris' CAC-40 rose 1.79 to 6354.03. The Xetra Dax fell 87.27 to 7049.03.

In Asia, markets were split. The Nikkei 225 stumbled 31.11 to 15,340.33, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng (say that 10 times fast) gained 149.64 to 15,820.79.