Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Wednesday, Feb. 27:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a flat opening Wednesday. Stocks rebounded Tuesday from the previous session's losses that were caused by political uncertainty in Italy.

European shares were rising early Wednesday. Asian stocks finished mostly higher but Japan's Nikkei 225 index finished lower by 1.3%.

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2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Wednesday includes durable goods orders for January at 8:30 a.m. EST and pending home sales for January at 10 a.m.

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3. -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday rebounded from the prior session's swoon after a raft of upbeat economic data and earnings reports, and after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated continued support for monetary easing in his semi-annual testimony before Congress.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 116 points, or 0.84%, at 13,900.

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4. -- Apple's (AAPL) annual shareholder meeting is set to begin Wednesday at 12 p.m. EST.

Tim Cook, Apple CEO, is likely to be asked what the iPhone maker plans to do with its massive cash hoard of more than $137 billion.

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5. -- Retailer J.C. Penney (JCP) is expected by analysts Wednesday to post a quarterly loss of 18 cents a share on revenue of $4.08 billion.

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6. -- Groupon (GRPN), the daily deals site, is forecast to report fourth-quarter profit of 3 cents a share on sales of $638.4 million.

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7. -- Priceline.com (PCLN), the Travel Web site operator, said Tuesday that fourth-quarter net income rose 28%, as bookings on its Web sites jumped 33% to about $6.6 billion in the quarter.

The company said it expects first-quarter adjusted earnings of $4.90 to $5.30 a share on revenue of $1.21 billion to $1.29 billion, in line with Wall Street forecasts.

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8. -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Tuesday legalizing Internet gambling, making the state the third in the nation to legalize gambling over the Web.

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9. -- Sequestration is only two days away, as across-the-board spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over 10 years are set to begin Friday unless President Obama and Congress can strike a deal.

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10. -- Pope Benedict XVI holds his final general audience in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Wednesday.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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