Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday following the re-election of Barack Obama as U.S. president.

Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney after multiple battleground states tipped in the incumbent's favor.

Obama won the key swing states of Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire, Nevada, Wisconsin and Iowa. Votes were still being counted in Florida.

The electoral vote count was 303 to 206 in favor of Obama.

European stocks were rising as investors in the region turned their attention to a key austerity vote in Greece. Asian shares ended Wednesday's trading session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed marginally lower at 8,972.89.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. Wednesday includes weekly crude inventories data at 10:30 a.m. EST, and consumer credit for September at 3 p.m.

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U.S. stocks on Tuesday soared, finishing higher prior to the news that Obama had secured a second term as U.S. president.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 133 points, or 1.02%, to close at 13,246. The blue-chip index rose for a second straight session and is now up 8.42% so far in 2012.

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Whole Foods Market (WFM) is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after Wednesday's closing bell, and analysts are calling for a profit of 60 cents a share in the September-ended period on revenue of $2.91 billion.

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Macy's (M) is expected by analysts Wednesday to post third-quarter earnings of 29 cents a share on revenue of $6.07 billion.

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Time Warner (TWX), the media giant, is seen earnings 82 cents a share on revenue of $6.9 billion in the third quarter, according to analysts.

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Early earnings reports are also due Wednesday from Becton, Dickinson (BDX), Blyth (BTH), CenterPoint Energy (CNP), Devon Energy (DVN), Dynegy (DYN), Hospira (HSP), Leap Wireless (LEAP), Orbitz Worldwide (OWW), Sodastream International (SODA), Sonus Networks (SONS), Tenet Healthcare (THC) and WellPoint (WLP).

Wednesday's late roster includes Activision Blizzard (ATVI), CafePress (PRSS), CBS Corp. (CBS), Chiquita Brands International (CQB), Luby's (LUB), MAKO Surgical (MAKO), Monster Worldwide (MNST), Prudential Financial (PRU), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Rosetta Stone (RST).

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News Corp. (NWSA) on Tuesday posted fiscal first-quarter earnings of $2.23 billion, or 94 cents a share, on revenue of $8.14 billion, up from a year-earlier equivalent profit of $738 million, or 28 cents a share, on revenue of $7.96 billion.

Excluding items, News Corp. reported adjusted earnings of 43 cents a share, beating Wall Street's consensus view of 37 cents.

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JPMorgan Chase (JPM)is close to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would end one probe into how the company's Bear Stearns unit packaged and sold home loans to investors, according to people familiar with the case, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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McGraw-Hill (MHP) has entered into exclusive discussions to sell its education unit to Apollo Global Management (APO), and the two sides could reach an agreement within a few weeks, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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