Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures suggested Wall Street would open lower Wednesday as investors fretted about the slow pace of negotiations over the so-called U.S.fiscal cliff.

European stocks were falling whiles Asian shares ended Wednesday's trading session in the red. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.2% to close at 9,308.35.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. Wednesday includes new-home sales for October at 10 a.m. EST, and the release of the Federal Reserve's beige book survey on economic conditions for October at 2 p.m.

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U.S. stocks on Tuesday finished with losses amid lingering concerns about the progress of budget talks on Capitol Hill.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 89 points, or 0.69%, to close at 12,878.

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) blew past Wall Street's expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter.

For its fiscal first quarter ending in December, Green Mountain forecast non-GAAP earnings of 62 cents to 67 cents a share and total sales growth of 14% to 18%. The current consensus view is for a profit of 59 cents a share.

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Costco Wholesale (COST), the warehouse retailer, plans to pay a special dividend of $7 a share, or about $3 billion. It also said Wednesday that first-quarter sales jumped 10%.

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Earnings are expected Wednesday from American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) , Coldwater Creek (CWTR), Express (EXPR), Fresh Market (TFM), Guess? (GES), Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (JOSB), La-Z-Boy (LZB), Movado Group (MOV), New York & Co. (NWY), Pall (PLL) and TiVo (TIVO).

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Virtu Financial has emerged as the early front-runner to buy Knight Capital Group (KCG)in a deal expected to value the brokerage firm at more than $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people briefed about the continuing sale talks.

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In tech news, Apple (AAPL) reportedly fired William Richardson, the tech giant's senior director of iOS services, over the failure of its new Maps app, while Groupon (GRPN) co-founder Andrew Mason could be on his way out as CEO, according to a report.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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