On Tap Today: Becton Dickinson, Federated Department Stores Report Earnings

Investors, who were distracted by pre-election jitters yesterday, will have today have to deal with the uncertainty of the presidential race.

Besides waiting on the edge of their seats to find out who will take over in the White House, events shaping the market today include earnings results from healthcare supply provider

Becton Dickinson

(BDX) - Get Report

and

Federated Department Stores

(FD)

.

Expected Earnings Reports

This table includes S&P 500 companies only. Dates are as expected according to First Call/Thomson Financial, and may change.

Economic Data

(

Forecasts are from

Reuters

. Times are Eastern. For a longer-term economic calendar and more, see

TSC's

Economic Databank.

)

7 a.m.: Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended Friday. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinancing Index. Forecast: n.a. Previous: 654.6. Purchase Index. Forecast: n.a. Previous: 304.6.
8:30 a.m.: Import Price Index for October. Source: Labor Department. Forecast: +0.2%. Previous: +1.5%. Export Price Index: Forecast: +0.1%. Previous: +0.5%.
9 a.m.: Treasury buyback announcement. Source: Bureau of the Public Debt. The Treasury announces the details of tomorrow's reverse auction.
1:30 p.m.: Treasury refunding. Source: Bureau of the Public Debt. The Treasury announces the results of its 10-year note auction, at which $8 billion of securities will be sold, with bids due at 1 p.m. The auction concludes the quarterly refunding.
6:30 p.m.: Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended Saturday. Source: Money Magazine and ABC News. Forecast: n.a. Previous: 26.