Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

U.S. futures suggest a flat Wall Street open Monday; Obama and Romney in neck-and-neck race for president, a new poll shows; Humana and IntercontinentalExchange report earnings; Berkshire Hathaway profit jumps 72%.
By Joseph Woelfel ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting a flat open for Wall Street on Monday ahead of Tuesday's tight U.S. presidential election and on renewed concerns over Greece's ability to remain in the eurozone.

European stocks were trading lower. Two votes in Parliament this week could determine if cash-strapped Greece stays in the euro.

Asian shares ended Monday's session with losses. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5% to close at 9,007.44.

The economic calendar in the U.S. Monday includes the Institute for Supply Management's October non-manufacturing index at 10 a.m. EST.

U.S. stocks

on Friday finished a truncated trading week with steep losses as the October jobs report fell flat ahead of Tuesday's presidential election.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

plunged more than 139 points, or 1.05%, to close at 13,093. The blue-chip index finished the week down 0.08% but is still up 7.17% so far in 2012.

A new national poll showed President Obama with the narrowest of leads over challenger Mitt Romney as the

presidential race

enters its final days.

The president leads 48% to 47%, according to a poll of likely voters by

The Wall Street Journal

and

NBC News

.

European banking giant

HSBC

(HBC)

said Monday third-quarter profit fell 52% and it set aside another $1.15 billion to cover potential U.S. fines for failing to stop money-laundering in its Mexican unit and compensate its U.K. customers for mis-selling payment protection insurance.

Humana

(HUM) - Get Report

, the health insurer, is expected by analysts Monday to post third-quarter earnings of $2.05 a share on revenue of $9.86 billion.

IntercontinentalExchange

(ICE) - Get Report

is seen posting third-quarter earnings of $1.72 a share, according to analysts.

Rockwell Automation

(ROK) - Get Report

is expected by analysts to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.32 a share.

Warren Buffett's

Berkshire Hathaway

(BRK.B) - Get Report

on Friday said third-quarter profit jumped 72% to $3.92 billion, or $1.58 per Class B share.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel

>To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Joseph Woelfel

>To submit a news tip, send an email to:

tips@thestreet.com

.

Copyright 2012 TheStreet.com Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

Loading ...