Dow stocks at new 52 week highs include 3M (MMM), Home Depot (HD) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Tuesday the Dow closed down -8.99 (-0.06%) at 15,967.03.

Premarket, the Dow was indicated to open down -5 points.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +21.85%.

Last night, outgoing Fed chairman Ben Bernanke made a speech that indicated that Fed support was likely to continue into 2014.

At 2 p.m. ET today, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting will be released. Investors are looking for further evidence that the central bank will continue its stimulus program into 2014, extending the huge bond-buying spree that has supported the U.S. economic recovery.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shares are lower in premarket trading after the investment bank announced a $13 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over mortgage-backed securities sold ahead of the financial crisis.

The Labor Department today reported that its Consumer Price Index slipped 0.1 percent last month as gasoline prices fell sharply, after rising 0.2 percent in September. For the 12 months through October, the CPI has increased 1.0 percent, the smallest gain since October 2009. The CPI had advanced 1.2 percent in September. Economists had forecast consumer prices unchanged last month and increasing 1.0 percent from a year ago.

Boeing (BA) was downgraded to ‘Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Oppenheimer. The stock is up +81.77% so far in 2013.

Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) DePuy Orthopedics announced a $2.5 billion U.S. settlement to compensate 8,000 hip system patients who had surgery to replace their their ASR hip, known as revision surgery, as of August 31.

European stocks are lower and Asian stocks ended mixed.

The national average price of gasoline is up three-tenths of a cent to $3.212 per gallon. Here in Gig Harbor, gas was $3.059 per gallon at our local Costco.

Earnings Reports.

There are no Dow stocks set to report earnings near term.

Earnings reports from Tuesday include:

Home Depot, Inc (HD) reported third quarter EPS of $0.95 on revenue of $19.50 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.88 on revenue of $18.13 billion.

Best Buy Co., Inc (BBY) reported third quarter EPS of $0.18 on revenue of $9.36 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.04 on revenue of $10.75 billion.

Campbell Soup Company (CPB) reported third quarter EPS of $0.63 on revenue of $2.17 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.88 on revenue of $2.34 billion.

TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.75, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.62 on revenue of $6.41 billion.

Medtronic, Inc. (MDT) reported second quarter EPS of $0.91 on revenue of $4.19 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.88 on revenue of $4.10 billion.

Other stocks expected to report earnings today include:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.75 on revenue of $966.27 million, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.64 on revenue of $946.74 million.

J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) is expected to report a third quarter loss of $1.75 per share on revenue of $2.80 billion, compared to last year’s loss of $0.93 per share on revenue of $2.93 billion.

Limited Brands, Inc. (LTD) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.28 on revenue of $2.17 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.36 on revenue of $2.05 billion.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.48 on revenue of $12.72 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.40 on revenue of $12.07 billion.

Staples, Inc. (SPLS) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.42 on revenue of $6.18 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.46 on revenue of $6.35 billion.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) is up 17.36% year-to-date.

Financial Calendar

0700 ET Weekly MBA mortgage applications, previous -1.8% with purchase sub-index -0.5% and refi sub-index -2.3%.

0830 ET Oct CPI expected unch m/m and +1.0% y/y, Sep +0.2% m/m and +1.2% y/y. Oct CPI ex food & energy expected +0.1% m/m and +1.7% y/y, Sep +0.1% m/m and +1.7% y/y.

0830 ET Oct retail sales expected +0.1% and +0.1% ex autos, Sep -0.1% and +0.4% ex autos.

1000 ET Oct existing home sales expected -2.7% to 5.15 million, Sep -1.9% to 5.29 million.

1000 ET Sep business inventories expected +0.3%, Aug +0.3%.

1000 ET New York Fed President William Dudley speaks on the regional and national economy at a briefing in New York to discuss the role of for-profit institutions in higher education.

1030 ET EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

1210 ET St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks on the economy and monetary policy at the Bloomberg Business Summit in Chicago.

1400 ET Minutes of the Oct 29-30 FOMC meeting.