Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Tuesday, Feb. 19:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting Wall Street would open higher Tuesday after a three-day holiday weekend.

European shares were rising after Germany's ZEW expectations index topped economists' forecasts.

Asian stocks ended Tuesday's session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3% to 11,372.34.

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2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Tuesday includes the NAHB Housing Market Index for February at 10 a.m. EST.

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3. -- U.S. stocks on Friday ended mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on 8 points, or 0.1%, to close at 13,982. The Dow closed off 0.1% last week.

The S&P 500 dipped 1.6 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 1,520. The index added 0.1% for the week. The Nasdaq was off 6.6 points, or 0.2%, to close at 3,192. The tech-heavy index lost 0.1% last week.

Markets in the U.S. were closed Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.

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4. -- OfficeMax (OMX) and Office Depot (ODP), facing stiff competition, are in advanced talks to merge, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

The deal is expected to be stock-for-stock, though precise terms couldn't be learned, the newspaper said.

A deal isn't done yet, and talks could still fall apart. But an announcement could come as early as this week, the people told the Journal.

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5. -- Dell (DELL), the personal computer maker, is expected by Wall Street Tuesday to post fourth-quarter earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $14.12 billion.

Dell reached a deal earlier this month to go private in a $24.4 billion deal.

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6. -- Herbalife (HLF), at the center of a public fight between Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman, is expected to post fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday of $1.03 a share on revenue of $1.05 billion.

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7. -- Earnings are also expected Tuesday from Medtronic (MDT), Nabors Industries (NBR) and Fidelity National Financial (FNF).

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8. -- Burger King's (BKW) Twitter account was hacked on Monday, forcing the fast-food company to ask Twitter to suspend the account.

Several tweets contained the logo of rival McDonald's (MCD). One tweet made from Burger King's account even said, "We just got sold to McDonalds!"

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9. -- Cyberattacks that stole information from 141 targets in the U.S. and other countries have been traced to a Chinese military, a U.S. security firm alleged Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

China called the report "groundless."

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10. -- Prosecutors accused Oscar Pistorius, the "blade runner," of premeditated murder, saying he opened fire four times on his girlfriend through a locked bathroom door after putting on his prosthetic legs and walking more than 20 feet from a bedroom, The New York Times reported.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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