Stocks Are Set for Big Rally on the First Trading Day of 2017

Futures are indicating a more than 100-point gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the first trading day of 2017. Asian and European markets are also higher. Asian markets were higher after encouraging Chinese manufacturing data. A trial regarding a huge insurance merger resumes in Washington D.C. today. The $58 billion dollar deal between Anthem (ANTM) - Get Report  and Cigna (CI) - Get Report  is being challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice. The government says it will lead to higher premiums and worse service for consumers, something the insurance companies deny. International travelers had a rough start to the year as the U.S. customs service experienced a systemwide outage Monday night. The outage is over now but the disruption for air travelers continues. The outage lasted four hours, resulting in long waits for angry and tired passengers. Officials say they don't expect any foul play in the customs system outage.