What to Watch Thursday: American Airlines Earnings, European Central Bank Meeting

On Thursday, October 20, investors await quarterly results from American Airlines (AAL) - Get Report and a policy statement from the European Central Bank. Before the markets open, analysts expect American Airlines to post earnings of $1.57 a share on sales of $10.54 billion. During the same quarter a year ago, the airline reported earnings of $2.77 a share with revenue of $10.7 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) - Get Report , Verizon Communications (VZ) - Get Report  and Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Report also release earnings Thursday. On the economic calendar, the European Central Bank's policy decision is released at 7:45am Eastern. Weekly jobless claims are released at 8:30 a.m. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is moderating a panel in New York AT 9 a.m. TheStreet's Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.