Dow stocks at 52 week highs include UnitedHealth (UNH), McDonald’s (MCD) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -28 points.

Wednesday the Dow was up +42.67 (+0.24%) at 18,096.27.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +3.85%.

There were 16 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Goldman Sachs (GS) +2.66% and UnitedHealth (UNH) +2.63%.

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Coca Cola (KO) -4.79% and Procter & Gamble (PG) -2.08%.

American Express (AXP +2.28%) rose over 4% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 EPS of $1.45, higher than consensus of $1.33.

Jobless claims unexpectedly decreased to the lowest level since 1973. New applications for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 247,000 in the week ended April 16, data from the Labor Department showed Thursday. The median forecast of economists called for 265,000 claims. The number of Americans already on benefit rolls declined to a more than 15-year low.

European stocks are lower and Asian markets ended mostly higher.

The national average price of gasoline is up five-tenths of a cent at $2.112 per gallon.

Earnings Reports.

JPMorgan (JPM) reported earnings on 4/13/2016 before the market open of $1.35, beating estimates of $1.259 per share.

IBM (IBM) reported earnings on 4/18/2016 after the market open of $2.35, beating estimates of $2.085 per share.

Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings on 4/19/2016 before the market open of $2.68, beating estimates for $2.566 per share.

Intel (INTC) reported earnings on 4/19/2016 after the market open of $0.54, beating estimates for $0.47 per share.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported earnings on 4/19/2016 before the market open of $1.72, beating estimates for $1.639 per share.

UnitedHealth (UNH) reported earnings on 4/19/2016 before the market open of $1.81, beating estimates for $1.721 per share.

Coca Cola (KO) reported earnings on 4/20/2016 before the market open of $0.45, beating estimates of $0.44 per share.

American Express (AXP) reported earnings on 4/20/2016 after the market close of $1.45, beating estimates of $1.355 per share.

Travelers (TRV) reports earnings on 4/21/2016 before the market open.

Verizon (VZ) reports earnings on 4/21/2016 before the market open.

Microsoft (MSFT) reports earnings on 4/21/2016 after the market open.

Visa (V) reports earnings on 4/21/2016 after the market open.

Caterpillar (CAT) reports earnings on 4/22/2016 before the market open.

General Electric (GE) reports earnings on 4/22/2016 before the market open.

McDonald’s reports earnings on 4/22/2016 before the market open.

Apple (AAPL) reports earnings on 4/25/2016 after the market close.

3M (MMM) reports earnings on 4/26/2016 before the market open.

Dupont (DD) reports earnings on 4/26/2016 before the market open.

Procter & Gamble (PG) reports earnings on 4/26/2016 before the market open.

Boeing (BA) reports earnings on 4/27/2016 before the market open.

United Technologies (UTX) reports earnings on 4/27/2016 before the market open.

Chevron (CVX) reports earnings on 4/29/2016 before the market open.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) reports earnings on 4/29/2016 before the market open.

Pfizer (PFE) reports earnings on 5/3/2016 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Caterpillar (CAT)

Caterpillar (CAT) is up +17.33% year-to-date.

Financial Calendar

0830 ET Weekly initial unemployment claims expected +12,000 to 265,000, previous -13,000 to 253,000. Weekly continuing claims expected unch at 2.171 million, previous -18,000 to 2.171 million.

0830 ET Mar Chicago Fed national activity index expected +0.14 to -0.15, Feb -0.70 to -0.29.

0830 ET Apr Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey expected -3.4 to 9.0, Mar +15.2 to 12.4.

0830 ET USDA weekly Export Sales.

0900 ET Feb FHFA house price index expected +0.4% m/m, Jan +0.5% m/m.

1000 ET Mar leading indicators expected +0.4%, Feb +0.1%.

1100 ET Treasury announces amount of 2-year T-notes (previous $26 billion), 2-year floating-rate notes (previous $13 billion), 5-year T-notes (previous $34 billion) and 7-year T-notes (previous $28 billion) to be auctioned Apr 25-28).

1300 ET Treasury auctions $16 billion of 5-year TIPS.